 
Cole's Haunting Melody

Book 4 of The Gods' Executioner Series

Cole's Haunting Melody

By A.L. Bridges

Copyright 2013 A.L. Bridges

Smashwords Edition v.3

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be sold or given away to others. If you would like to share this eBook, please purchase another copy for each person. If you are reading this eBook and did not purchase it, please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this and other indie authors.

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means; whether it is electronic, mechanical, or otherwise; without prior written consent from the author.

This novel is a work of fiction. All likenesses of people, organizations, or events are purely coincidental. All characters, organizations, events, and places are used in a fictitious manner.

Other Books by A.L. Bridges

The Gods' Executioner Series:

  1. That Which is Unexpected

  2. Mania and the Executioner

  3. Feros and the Underworld Prince

  4. Cole's Haunting Melody

  5. An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed

Visit albridges.blogspot.com for links to the other books and updates on the latest releases.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

References

Underworlds

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Excerpt from An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed

Chapter 1: Some Questions Answered

[October 14th]

"Cole, are you alright?" Cheza asks as we stand in the garden at my aunt's house.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine!" I defend as I look directly into her now suspicious eyes.

She should be turning fourteen in May, not twenty. I should tell her... after all, she has the right to know. However, it will bring up the modifications that force her to love me, and in that regard, I'm terrified.

I'm terrified of her reaction.

I'm terrified that she'll despise me.

I'm terrified that she'll leave.

"Cole... please don't lie to me..." Cheza softly replies.

I feel myself caving... I step closer to Cheza and caress her cheek with my right hand, my fingertips brushing against the jaggedness of her recently cut hair that still has an inexplicably sexy appeal.

"I—" I start to say.

"Nephew," Saraswati says behind me with her noticeable Indian accent and I go on alert as I turn towards her. "Do not fret. I'm here on behalf of Parvati."

"What does my mother want?" I question.

After basically telling her and my father to go fuck themselves

"Well now this monster is telling you both to go fuck yourselves."

Never mind, there is no basically about it. I specifically told them to go fuck themselves. After slighting two of the most powerful gods in the universe in such a fashion, I doubt my mother has anything nice to say to me.

"Parvati wanted me to tell you that she'll handle your father and that you can take as much time as you need. We still don't even have any information on Loki's whereabouts so there is no reason for you to not take some time off," Saraswati informs me.

Well, that is certainly not what I was expecting.

"Based on your expression, I take it that you are confused. Come, perhaps I can clear up some misconceptions that you are currently experiencing," Saraswati says and walks further into the garden.

I follow after her with Cheza close behind me. The foliage becomes denser until we round a corner and the path opens into a furnished vermillion pagoda, not unlike the one that acts as a gate on Mount Kailash. I walk up the steps into the pagoda and take a seat across from Saraswati on a large silk-cushioned couch while Cheza sits down next to me.

"Would you like a drink?" Saraswati asks and snaps her fingers. Two glasses appear on the glass table in front of me. I pick it up and take a drink, finding that it's mango lemonade.

"Thanks. How does that work here? As far as I've seen, being able to conjure things into existence only works on godly planes and I'm not even sure how it works there," I say.

"While my house is technically on earth, it and the surrounding property are part of my domain. As for how it works, these things aren't actually brought into existence. They are simply taken from other places. Haven't you ever had something mysteriously disappear on you?" Saraswati questions.

Does this mean that the gods have a highly vested interest in singular socks?

"However, certain things are created directly from the Aether, or the Void," Saraswati adds.

"What is the Void?" I ask.

"It's the fifth element, so to speak. It's the basis of all things. It is where all gods come from, where we get our power, and what we return to if we die, or so I theorize. We don't know for certain. My brother has five 'faces,' as it were. The fifth, Isana, looks to the north-east and is directly affiliated with Akasha, or the Void. Because of this, Shiva has a deeper connection with Void than any other god," Saraswait answers.

So my Drive was able to use the Void because my Drive was really an incarnation of Shiva so it knew about my godly origins... wait a second, Airi had said that Bhairava, who was my Drive, was disconnected from my mind when I died. If that's true, then who had been taking over my body to use the Void before I was able to?

Airi is the only one possibly capable of doing something like that...

"Now, I believe we should move on to you," Saraswati says.

"Me?" I reply.

"Yes, you. You seem to be under the misconception that you are an ayonija, an artificial child. This is incorrect. While you have been altered, you were born of your mother's womb and are very much her son," Saraswati explains.

"If I was born from a god and a goddess, then why am I not a god?" I inquire.

"The incarnation that your mother is currently using is mortal, or at least it was at the time of your birth," Saraswati answers.

"But wouldn't that make me a demigod?" I ask.

"This is where things get confusing. The original plan was to have you born as a demigod while making alterations to you using blueprints from the blood warriors, along with a few other alterations that would allow you to fight against gods. However, you came out with the aura of a god-made sentient being like the jinn. What's even stranger is that we were able to bring you back to life upon your death by rebuilding your body. This shouldn't have been possible because of the nature of other sentient beings. Upon their deaths, beings with silver auras rejoin the Void. There is no Underworld for them," Saraswati explains. And since Addie and Cheza are similar beings, they too don't have an Underworld...

"So why did you bother making a new body for me if you thought I wouldn't be able to return?" I inquire.

"Because your aura was still in play, so to speak. Thus, Shiva created a new body for you while Parvati gathered your aura and spent nine months joining the two. Upon finishing, Parvati discovered that your mind was still disconnected so she enlisted the help of Pinga and Hel to put you in a situation where you could recover your memories without the threat of your enemies finding you," Saraswati informs me.

"Why didn't you just send me back to Cheza?" I question.

"We were concerned that a shock like that might cause you to become permanently disconnected from your memories," Saraswati replies.

"Okay, I guess that sort of makes sense. So why go through all this trouble when surely there are other gods that can defeat Loki?" I ask.

"Because you're the only one that can do this," Saraswati says, but my 'bullshit' meter goes into the red.

"No, really," I reply.

"*Sigh*... Can't you just accept that answer? Fine, the truth is that Parvati wanted to have another kid. She told my brother, my brother responded by porting in a bunch of baby goats, telling her that she could take her pick, resulting in Shiva sleeping on the couch for a year," Saraswati responds.

"Haha! Totally worth it!" I exclaim.

"My brother thought so too. He eventually caved at around the time that Loki took over the Norse pantheon, and decided that he could intervene while giving Parvati what she wanted. He did something similar with your brother, Murugan, when Tarakasur was a problem," Saraswati says.

I remember Murugan being a god of war and victory that was specifically born to fight a demon in a Hindu legend, but not much else.

"Alright, that seems realistically plausible to me. So why did they make it so I have a Caucasian bone structure?" I inquire.

"Parvati thought life in America would be easier if you were Caucasian," Saraswati explains. Well, she wasn't incorrect...

"Then why am I so tan?" I ask.

"That was a compromise between Shiva and your mother," Saraswati answers. I have a few more questions, but...

"Well those are the only questions I had," that I can ask with Cheza here, anyway.

"Oh? Well, I'll be here if you ever need to talk," Saraswati replies with a knowing gaze.

"Thanks, Saraswati," I tell her, grab Cheza's hand, and touch the Haglaz rune on my right shoulder.

Chapter 2: Destination Decisions

Cheza and I appear in Jason's room in Niflheim. I immediately strip off my jacket, pouch, and boots before a swirl of black mist announces Jason's arrival.

"Hey CT, glad to see that you're both safe," Jason says.

"Hey bro, I'm really tired so let's talk tomorrow," I tell him.

"That's cool. You and Rei can just crash here. I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Jason replies and leaves the room.

I pull off my jeans while Cheza strips out of her leather suit. We climb into bed and Cheza snuggles into my right side.

"Sorry if my hair still smells burnt..." Cheza whispers.

"Don't worry, it doesn't. It smells like frozen oranges, just like always," I think to her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Cheza thinks after a few moments.

"Maybe... I think a vacation will help. Now we just have to decide where we are going," I reply.

"How about Australia?" Cheza suggests.

"No," I respond after thinking about it for all of a tenth of a second.

"What? Why?" Cheza asks.

"Three words: Poison, poison, poison. All of the poison. My gods, there is so much fucking poison. Even the cute-looking beaver-duck hybrid things are poisonous, and they're mammals," I reply.

"But you're pretty much immune to poison!" Cheza points out.

"That doesn't change the fact that everything on that continent is actively trying to kill you. They have saltwater crocodiles, tons of sharks, rockfish, box jellyfish, blue-ringed octopi, and even their fucking snails are poisonous!" I tell her.

"Okay, so we'll just stay out of the ocean!" Cheza suggests.

"Dingoes, more crocodiles, cassowary i.e. giant birds with six-inch dagger claws that kill people for fun, and emu i.e. giant birds that I believe are immune to bullets after the Australian Army was sent in with .50 caliber machine guns to kill 20,000 emu that were devastating local farms and only managed to kill a thousand of them after shooting 10,000 rounds over the course of a week. The bullets they were using punch fist-sized holes through people and the army still only managed to kill a thousand of them! Plus there's the magpie i.e. a non-giant bird that takes joy in swooping down and attacking people's eyes!" I exclaim.

"Cole?" Cheza asks.

"Their ticks can fucking paralyze you! And don't even get me started on their spiders! The redback spider males have to copulate with the females, which happen to be ten times their size, while the female eats them! Then there's the Sydney Funnel spider, whose bite can kill you in forty minutes, is frequently known to charge at people, and it can even fucking swim! Then there are their tarantulas. How can a giant hairy spider get more terrifying? When it eats fucking birds, that's how!" I exclaim.

"Cole," Cheza says in a somewhat exasperated fashion.

"Then there's the cute and cuddly Koala, which I'm naming 'the murder bear' in an act of foresight for when they learn how to use guns. Finally there's the kangaroo, which haven't killed anyone that I know of, but that didn't stop one from trying to kill a ninety year old lady, her two grandsons, and two police officers! And my only defense against them is that I know that they can't hop backwards thanks to Daniel Tosh and his love of Snapple facts!" I exclaim.

"COLE!" Cheza screams and smacks me. "I GET IT! WE DON'T HAVE TO GO TO AUSTRALIA!"

"Now, let's go to bed. We can discuss where to go on vacation later," Cheza says and snuggles back into my side. I take her suggestion and close my eyes.

****

"DADDY! DADDY! Look what I found!" Addie squeals as she runs up the beach towards me, her bushy silver tail swishing back and forth through the hole in her bathing suit.

"Isn't it pretty!?" Addie squeals as she shows me what's in her hand: a tiny peach colored octopus with vibrant blue circles all over its body. I feel my heart stop when I see it.

"Daddy? I don't feel so good," Addie says with a pale face.

I grab the octopus from her with my left hand and hurl it into the ocean. The toxin starts to set in as Addie collapses into the sand.

"Addie! Hang in there!" I panic as I pick her up and cradle her body, feeling her clammy skin.

Addie's lips turn blue as I put my left hand over her mouth, thinking that I can use my blood to neutralize the toxin. As my left hand makes contact with her face, the wind picks up. Addie turns into black smoke and is blown away, leaving me kneeling on the sandy beach—alone, as tears stream down my face.

"Cole."

****

[October 15th]

"Cole," Cheza soothingly says while gently shaking me.

I open my eyes only to find that everything is blurry. I sit up, quickly turn away, wipe my eyes, and sniffle once. Cheza hugs me from behind, draping her arms over my shoulders.

"Okay, I see your point... fuck Australia's animals," Cheza whispers into my right ear.

"Haha, exactly," I reply and give her a quick kiss before standing up.

I head into the bathroom, step into the shower, turn it on, and shut my eyes. I'm aware of the water berating my body, but I can't feel its temperature—I'm completely numb.

Addie...

"Cole..." Cheza says from behind me. She presses herself up against my back and the feeling returns to my body.

"We need to decide where we are going," Cheza adds.

(Why don't you take Cheza to the cabin?)

"Why would I do that!?"

(She will discover the truth eventually. This isn't something you can run from)

"Even so, won't there most likely be people living in it now?"

(Inti actually purchased the property and paid for maintenance in advance. He had been planning on telling you about it so you could take Cheza there, but he died before he could)

"Airi, how do you know this?"

(I have access to all of Inti's memories)

"How?"

(Because of where he ultimately ended up)

"And where is that?"

(Take Cheza to the cabin, Master)

"We're going to Lake Baikal," I reluctantly tell Cheza.

"Okay?" Cheza says uncertainly.

"It's important for us to go there," I inform her.

"Alright," Cheza consents.

We finish our shower, get dressed, and I reattach the rest of my holster to my pouch before returning the two Diamond swords to their position on my back, which I had removed for the 'scouting' mission to Duniya al Jinn. We exit the room and head down the hall, finding Jason and Reyna in the kitchen.

"Good Morning," Reyna greets from her position on a bar stool.

"Morning. Where is everyone?" I inquire as Cheza and I take the seats across the bar from Reyna.

"Well, after meeting her mother, Naia was brought back here. With the case finished, Natasha had to go make her report so Pinga brought her to Arizona. Naia went with Natasha so she could go see her boyfriend," Jason replies from the kitchen, where he appears to be making crepes.

"Well that makes things easier. I suppose we should head back to Fogquartz and pack," I say to Cheza.

"Oh... this is something I forgot to mention, but you were expelled," Cheza informs me.

"What?" I reply.

"Yeah, almost immediately. Sara and Tia already gathered your things and said they were moving back to Arizona, which they probably already have," Cheza adds.

"Where are you guys going?" Reyna asks.

"On a vacation to some lake," Cheza replies.

"That sounds nice. We should take a vacation too, Reyna," Jason says.

"Can you even leave the Underworld?" I ask.

"According to my mom, I have just over two weeks of surface time saved up, but I was actually thinking about taking Manannan mac Lir up on his offer to visit Mag Mell. That way, I won't use any of that time because Mag Mell is an Underworld plane," Jason replies.

"Well, it is a nice plane and their beer is really good. I say go for it. Alright, let's get going, Cheza," I say.

"Can't we at least stay for crepes?" Cheza asks.

"Fine. Crepes first, then we head home," I reply.

"Here you go!" Jason says, setting a platter of crepes on the bar. He brings over four plates, strawberries, and whip cream. I dish myself out a crepe, fill it with strawberries and whip cream, and roll it up.

"I have to hand it to you, man. You are damn good at making breakfast!" I say as I finish my crepe.

"Dude, you have whip cream all over the side of your face. Here," Jason says and reaches across the bar. He wipes a globule of whip cream from my left cheek and then licks his finger.

"Thanks bro," I reply.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Reyna and Cheza propping their heads up with a hand against their chins, staring at me and Jason.

"Do you ever feel threatened by their relationship?" Reyna asks Cheza from across the bar.

"Once, when I caught them cuddling in Cole's bed when they were seventeen, but I'm used to it now. Plus it gives me an excuse to claim my property by doing something like this," Cheza says. She grabs my head, pulls me closer, and licks the left side of my face.

"Ouch... you need to shave, Cole," Cheza says while scrunching up her face.

"Haha, yes Mistress," I reply.

"Why were they cuddling in bed?" Reyna questions.

"Oh, who remembers? It was probably something to do with 'drunk and passed out.'" Cheza replies.

"Alright, well thanks for the crepes. We'll see you guys soon," I say as I stand up.

"Yep, see you, CT. Have fun on your vacation!" Jason exclaims.

"Yeah..." I reply.

The place we are going most likely will not end in a good time... Cheza grabs my hand and I port us to the front yard of the house in Arizona.

"We're home!" Cheza announces as we walk in the front door.

" _DADDY!"_ Addie screams while running towards me from the couch. I clearly see her tail swishing back and forth through her skirt. When Addie gets within five feet of me, the illusion of her dissolves mid-stride and leaves me feeling hollow.

"Cole..." Cheza says with a pitying look.

"Welcome home you two!" Tia says while walking in from the kitchen.

"Rei, what did you do to your hair?" Sara asks as she rounds the corner.

"That's a pretty long story," Cheza says. I move into the living room and sit down on the couch while Cheza recants.

"...So I was engulfed in flames for a split second before Parvati ported me out of there and onto Mount Kailash, where we proceeded to cut my hair and chat while waiting for Cole," Cheza explains.

"Parvati, Hindu goddess of power and wife of Shiva?" Tia clarifies.

"Yeah, she's Cole's mother. And since Saraswati is Cole's aunt, that means that Sara is actually Cole's cousin. So, Cole thought I was dead and proceeded to..." Cheza continues, but her voice gets tuned out.

Addie climbs onto the couch and settles into her favorite spot: my lap. She leans backward, looks up at me, and smiles before turning into black smoke as she fades away.

I know that it's just my imagination, but that doesn't make it any less painful. I stand from the couch and trudge into my bedroom while Cheza finishes her story. I pull a duffle bag out of my closet and start throwing clothes into it. Siberia is probably cold this time of year, so I should probably pack warm clothing... is this really a good idea? Cheza deserves to know that she was really born only thirteen years ago and that she's been mind-fucked into loving me, but losing her isn't an option to me and it's looking like a real possibility.

"No, I'm doing it. I'm taking Cheza there. That's final," I say to myself and finish packing.

(There is something you need before you leave, like the key to the cabin. Go into Inti's office)

I do as Airi says and go down the hall to Inti's office. It's been nearly eighteen months since I last entered his office, when Tia took Cheza and I to the meeting where I first learned about the gods, but nothing has changed. The book cases on the left and right walls remain, as do the Victorian desk and chair. The only noticeable difference is the light layer of dust on everything.

(Second drawer down on the left, taped to the bottom of the drawer)

I walk around Inti's desk, open up the second drawer on the left side, and pull off the item taped beneath it. It's an envelope with my name written in large block text on the top of it. On the back of the envelope is a golden seal imprinted with an Incan headdress.

" _Not to be opened until he knows the truth"_ is written above and below the seal.

I stick my finger underneath the lip of the envelope, slide it along, and break the seal. I'm vaguely aware of my helmet engaging just before a pulse of gold washes over my body. Okay, that was weird.

"Cole, are you alright?" Tia asks in a hushed tone as she walks into the room a few seconds later.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just opening up this letter and I assume that I activated some sort of spell when I broke the seal," I explain.

"Yeah, basically this entire room was rigged with those spells. It's supposed to knock you out and make you forget recent events when activated. Eric set them up to keep you or Chezarei from accidentally discovering the existence of the supernatural before you were ready. So what's in the envelope?" Tia inquires.

"It holds the key to the house where Cheza's parents lived. That's where I'm taking her," I reply.

"Why? That hardly seems a fitting place for a vacation," Tia says.

"I have something that I need to tell her... something that she deserves to know."

'and I couldn't think of a better place to tell her than the place where I first started irreparably fucking up her life,' I decide not to add. I open up the envelope and pull out the letter, finding a key taped to the bottom.

Cole,

If you're reading this, then you are aware of what you really are, and I have most likely rejoined the Void. This is the key to the house where Chezarei lived with her family near Lake Baikal, in Russia. Please, take Chezarei there so that she can hopefully regain something of what was lost—something of what I took from her. The coordinates are as follows: 54.00N, 108.78E

—Uncle Eric

I remove the key and put it into my pocket. Using my left hand, I smear some blood on the letter and then I transmute that blood into acetylene. The paper is almost instantly incinerated, and then Tia and I leave Inti's office.

"Cole, why didn't you tell me that we were going to Russia? It's October so it's going to be freezing!" Cheza complains.

"Cheza, we're going to Russia, pack warm clothing," I warn her in a retrospect fashion. Cheza gives me an annoyed look in response.

"Can you please finish packing? I'd like to leave as soon as possible..." I say while staring at my shoes.

"Okay..." Cheza quietly replies.

She caresses my cheek, brings my face towards her, and brushes her lips against mine. I return to my room, grab my duffle bag, head into the living room, and sit on the couch to wait for Cheza.

Cheza understands me. She understands that I can't be in a place where everything reminds me of Addie. Cheza understands me, which is why I can't afford to lose her... but I also can't keep this a secret from her...

"Are you ready to go?" Cheza gently asks, coming out from her room with her suitcase in tow.

"Yeah... let's go," I reply, hoisting my duffle bag over my shoulder.

Cheza wraps her hand in mine and I touch the triskele on my left shoulder blade, porting us to the frozen forest that Inti ported to eleven years ago.

Chapter 3: A Possible Mistake

"So where are we going?" Cheza asks as she struggles to pull her suitcase through the snow. I grab her suitcase, lift it up, and place it on my shoulder, holding it like a boom box in the 80's.

"Someplace that holds a truth that few people know," I mumble.

"What?" Cheza asks.

"Never mind. It isn't too far," I tell her.

Cheza stops asking questions and lets her concerned silence hang in the air. We continue walking through the frozen forest, the cottony crunch of the snow beneath our feet being the only ambient noise, and the moon being the only source of light. The cabin comes into view and I make a beeline towards it... that's an expression that I've never understood. When's the last time that you saw a bee fly in a straight line? You know, besides when it was part of a swarm trying to kill you.

"Cole... this cabin... it's..." Cheza says as I slide the key into the lock and open the door.

"Quaint..." Cheza adds with uncertainty as I set our luggage down near the door.

The cabin is relatively small. There's a small loft area that holds a full-sized bed that is accessed via ladder in front of us. To the left there is a small kitchen area with a table and an old-fashioned iron stove. Lastly, there is a brick fireplace with a fur rug in front of it to the right.

"That's it? It doesn't remind you of anything?" I ask.

"No, should it?" Cheza inquires, slightly perplexed.

"No... It's pretty cold in here so I'll get a fire started. I'll be right back," I tell Cheza and step outside.

The icy wind picks up and berates my exposed flesh as I pull the cabin door shut. I zip my jacket up, thankful that my exposed left arm can't feel the cold. I walk around the perimeter of the cabin, looking for a wood shed, which I don't find. I decide that the next best thing is to make some firewood myself. A suitable pine tree is only about twenty feet from the cabin. I punch through the trunk of the tree with my left arm, shooting splinters in most directions before the tree thuds softly into the snow. I drag the tree back towards the cabin and beat it into wood chips of various sizes. I gather up the wood chips in my arms and carry them inside the cabin.

"I thought you were getting firewood?" Cheza questions when she sees my armload of splintered tree.

"There isn't a wood shed or any firewood that I could see so I punched a tree down," I reply and dump my armload into the fireplace. I flip the lever near the mantel to open up the flue for the chimney.

"That isn't going to light since the wood is wet..." Cheza says, slightly condescendingly.

"We'll see about that!" I say as I grab a box of matches from the mantle of the fireplace. I kneel down, light a match, hold it up to a wood chip, and see that it isn't going to light.

"See?" Cheza says, definitely condescending this time.

I stare at her defiantly as I drip a few drops of my blood into the fire place with my left hand. I stand and take a few steps toward Cheza, my eyes never leaving hers, and I snap my fingers. Acetylene, which burns at about six thousand degrees, just laughs at the wet wood's efforts to not catch on fire. We have a crackling fire seconds later as I smirk at Cheza.

"See?" I tell her.

"Alright, master survivalist. What do we do for lunch... or rather dinner considering what time it is here?" Cheza asks.

"Do you know how to cook rabbits?" I inquire in a serious fashion. Cheza looks at me in horror.

"Haha fine. I'll port someplace and get food. What do you want?" I ask.

"Not little bunny foo foo..." Cheza quietly says.

"It was a joke, Cheza. As much as I seem to enjoy flaying people, I wasn't looking forward to skinning rabbits. How about pizza?" I suggest.

"I'm fine with that... just cheese though..." Cheza replies.

"Sure," I warmly reply. I didn't think my joke about the rabbits was going to freak her out so much.

"Um, Cole? What do we do about a bathroom?" Cheza shyly asks.

"Uh..." I answer.

(Closet door in the right hand corner)

I walk over and open the door to find that there is a small, airplane sized bathroom. The toilet even seems to work through some kind of suction instead of water. That's a smart idea considering that pipes must freeze quite often over here.

"Problem solved!" I announce triumphantly.

"Well at least this place has plumbing..." Cheza mumbles.

"Alright, I'm going to go grab a pizza. I'll be right back," I tell her.

I think of the Colloseum and port to Rome. In retrospect, it probably would have been a better idea to bring Cheza so we could have done some sightseeing and the whole tourist thing. Perhaps I'll bring her here tomorrow. The Colloseum is towering over me as the sun sets over the Italian skyline. Thankfully, no one seems to have noticed me port in. I go about looking for a pizza parlor and I head down an alley, following my sense of smell towards food.

A man suddenly comes out of nowhere and steps in front of me. He is around 6'4", has wavy brown locks that are probably around six inches long, five o'clock shadow, violet-grey colored eyes, and is wearing an expensive looking Italian suit. The word dapper comes to mind when I see him.

"Mi scusi," I politely say, 'excuse me' being the only phrase I know in Italian, thanks to the movie _Eurotrip_.

"What is Feros doing in Italy?" the man asks with a light Italian accent. My aura vision kicks on and I see a golden aura, as well as a violet colored lightning bolt tattooed on his right hand, which I'm fairly certain wasn't there a second ago.

"I mean you no trouble, your highness, Jupiter. I am simply here to pick up dinner for my girlfriend and I," I say with a slight bow. I figure he will correct me if he prefers to be called Zeus.

"Hmm... you are different than I thought you would be..." Jupiter says, snaps his fingers, and conjures a pizza, a dish of fettuccini alfredo, a bottle of wine, and something wrapped in foil, which I assume is garlic bread. Since he can summon things here, does that mean that all of Rome is considered his domain?

"How did you know I came for pizza?" I ask as I notice that the violet lightning bolt on his right hand has faded. I imagine that the tattoo might allow him to throw lightning bolts without summoning storms like Illapa had to.

"Because you are American," Jupiter nonchalantly replies while handing me the food.

"Well grazie, your highness. With my goal accomplished, I shall return now," I politely say with a slight bow, remembering what 'thank you' is in Italian.

"Prego. I imagine that we will meet again, Feros," Jupiter says and disappears.

My first encounter with a Category 4 god and nobody is dead; I'd call that a successful meeting! I port back to the cabin with lunch/ dinner/ midnight snack because of the time in Russia.

"I'm back. So I went to Rome, met Jupiter, got dinner, and nobody was killed!" I cheerfully announce as I set the food on the small table near the stove.

I turn and see Cheza staring at the cabinet in the left corner, the same one that she was hiding in when her parents were killed. Her eyes are wide as I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her from behind. Cheza recoils away from me in response. It feels like she just punched me in the stomach.

"Cole, this is... Why did you bring me here?" Cheza asks, her voice cracking.

"Cheza... I have something to tell you. You might want to sit down," I calmly say as I take a seat at the table. How much should I tell her? Just the age thing? Or everything?

(If you love her, you will tell her the whole truth)

"Cheza... it's my fault that you're like this," I quietly inform her while avoiding her eyes.

"Cole, what are you talking about?" Cheza asks with concern.

"As you know, Fenrir was your biological father. He sent werewolves to kill your parents and retrieve you. At the same time, my mother was telling Inti to also retrieve you. Inti came here, killed the wolves, and took you from that cabinet when you were two years old. Inti brought you to Saraswati, who then brought you to my mother, who advanced your age by six years so that you would be closer to me in age," I explain, still refraining from looking at her.

I decide not to tell her about Inti. After getting screwed over with her biological father, I can't tell her that her adoptive father is responsible for killing her mother.

"Cole, you can't blame yourself for that," Cheza replies.

"But it's my fault. Cheza, my mother aged you by six years, gave you false memories... and she even overwrought your instincts to make it practically impossible for you to not fall in love with me..." I softly admit.

I sit there silently while the pit in my stomach grows as Cheza processes the information.

"I-I need some time..." Cheza quietly responds about a minute later.

"Can you take me to Natasha's house?" Cheza requests.

"Yeah..." I reply, sounding like something is caught in my throat.

I grab Cheza's suitcase and then I gently grab her hand, feeling her fight the urge to recoil away from me. I touch my triskele and port us to Natasha's apartment. Natasha must be at work because her apartment is empty when we arrive.

"Are you going to be alright here?" I ask as I set Cheza's luggage down in the entryway.

"Yes..." Cheza quietly replies.

"Cheza? You know that I love you, right?" I ask her.

"Y-yeah, of course..." Cheza says with uncertainty.

I sadly smile at her and walk out into the hall of Natasha's penthouse building. Suddenly, I feel my connection with Cheza close. She must've had Airi block it... So where do I go now? I can't go back to the house in Arizona. I can't go back to Fogquartz. Jason and Reyna are on vacation so I can't go to Niflheim. I guess I'll just go back to the cabin. I touch my triskele and port to the cabin, where I sit down to eat the pizza and drink the bottle of wine. After eating, I decide to take a walk through the forest to try and clear my head.

What am I going to do if Cheza decides that she can't deal with this shit anymore? I would understand if she wanted to avoid me altogether. I made the right choice in telling her... didn't I?

While contemplating this and walking through the moonlit forest, I come across a circular opening in the trees. A beam of moonlight shines through the trees and on to two headstones. The writing on the gravestones is in Russian, but given the dates, I think it's a safe assumption that these are Cheza's parents' graves.

"Hello Chezarei's mom. Cheza is doing well, you don't have to worry. I should probably apologize. It's partially my fault for getting you killed after all," I say to the headstones. "And now I feel kind of stupid because I just realized that even if you can somehow hear this, you probably don't speak English... unless the Gift of Tongues counts for information coming from earth as well..."

"As far as I know, it doesn't," I hear a voice with a thick Russian accent say behind me. I look over my shoulder and see a snowman—not the abominable kind, just a regular 'Frosty' variety snowman.

"Hello," the snowman says, his accent making it sound like he is putting extra emphasis on the 'e' in hello.

"AH! A TALKING SNOWMAN!" I shout as I spin and backhand the snowman. The snowman explodes on contact with my left hand, only to reform from completely different snow about ten feet away.

"That is not nice. I am god Veles. I came to offer you trade, Feros. If you help me, I will allow your girlfriend to meet her mother," Veles, the Slavic god of the Underworld and magic, says. Cheza would probably like to meet her mom... it probably won't be enough to get her to stay, but it will most likely help.

"What's to stop me from going to the Nav district and finding Cheza's mother myself?" I ask.

"Because she is not in Nav, she is in higher plane of Underworld, Iriy. Like Elysium and Mag Mell, is invitation only plane for outsiders," Veles tells me. I consider this for a few moments.

"Alright, what do you want me to do?" I inquire.

"I want your help getting my wife back from acehole brother Perun," Veles says. I think he meant asshole, but it certainly sounded like acehole.

"Nope, not falling for that one. In every story I've learned, you stole something from Perun (either his wife, his son, or his cow), resulting in you getting your ass blasted back to the Underworld, which humans in this age hypothesize as being the explanation for the changing of the seasons by ancient Slavs," I say.

"Have you not heard that history is written by victor?" Veles asks.

"Yeah, but if this guy Viktor was there and he was a subjective third-party, then wouldn't the story be true?" I reply.

"No, history is written by winner," Veles says.

"Weiner? Was he German?" I ask.

"No! History is written by peoples who win!" Veles explains, exasperated.

"Oh... I feel stupid. Alright, so all I have to do is rescue your wife from Perun? That doesn't sound too hard, besides the fact that he's a Category 3 god that uses electricity... So where is he?" I inquire.

Perun is the head of the Slavic pantheon and is the god of thunder, lightning, and war. Considering that every god of thunder or war that I've met has been an asshole, it's not much of a stretch of my imagination to believe Veles's story... well, I suppose Jupiter was a decent guy, but that still means that there's a seventy-five percent chance that Perun is an asshole.

"He lives at top of Great Oak. Perun knows when I leave roots of Great Oak, which is why I have to communicate through other means or he will blast me before I can finish my business," Veles informs me. I remember that Slavic mythology believed that the world was set up like a tree, much like the Norse Yggdrasil.

"So how do we get to him?" I ask.

"I will port us from roots, to branches. A Rusalka will come in the morning and lead you to Nav, where I will take us to branches," Veles tells me.

"I'll just meet you in Nav in a few hours. I need to go get some equipment beforehand," I reply, figuring that I should just go by myself rather than trusting a Russian succubus to be my guide.

"Okay, I will see you in few hours," Veles says and then the snowman collapses.

I port to the cabin instead of wandering around the forest looking for it. Once there, I extinguish the fire, close the flue, grab my duffle bag, and exit the cabin. After locking the door behind me, I port back to the house in Arizona. I pull my armored leather suit from my closet, as well as my Obliterator, and I set them on my dresser.

"Hey Cole, you guys are back early. Where's Chezarei?" Tia asks as she enters my room.

"Cheza is going to be staying at Natasha's place for a while," I quietly reply.

"What did you do?" Tia inquires.

"Can I explain some other time, Tia? Right now, I'm tired and I've got places to be in a few hours so I'm going to take a nap before then," I request.

In actuality, I just really don't want to discuss how Cheza and I might not be together anymore.

"Sure. Oh, before I forget, the progress on your new gun has hit a wall," Tia informs me.

"What? New gun?" I ask.

"Well remember how you said that the 10mm auto bullets aren't connecting with the faster targets and how I told you that higher calibers wouldn't do any good as far as velocity? Well I brought this problem up with Archer and we discussed several solutions. First we thought about using rifle payloads, but that wouldn't really help because of the stopping power you require from higher caliber bullets. After about a week, we finally came up with a solution: Smith & Wesson makes a .460 caliber revolver that has a velocity of 2300ft/s for a thirteen gram JHP round," Tia says.

"But a revolver won't work because it is impossible to reload them one handed," I point out.

"Exactly. That's why I had a custom gun commissioned. I sent in an order for a .460 caliber semi-automatic handgun modeled after a Desert Eagle. They were able to get it built, but they ran into a problem. Apparently, after less than a dozen rounds, the thinner barrel needed in a pistol cracked from the pressure. The standard .460 caliber revolver has a much thicker barrel, which withstands the excess pressure of the bullet," Tia explains.

Yeah, that is a real problem. My silicon carbide wouldn't crack, but I don't trust the ballistics that a ceramic barrel would provide...

"We'll keep working on it, but I just thought I'd let you know what's been going on," Tia adds.

"Alright. Thanks, Tia. I'm going to get some sleep before I have to leave," I tell her.

"Okay. Sweet dreams, Cole!" Tia exclaims and leaves the room.

I strip down to my boxers, flop down onto my bed, and attempt to get some sleep.

****

Chapter 4: Fall of the Slavs

The dream I have is of Addie's death: a pool of blood beneath her head, blood soaked clothes, her lifeless blue eyes, a bullet hole.

...

"Daddy? Daddy are you okay? Daddy!?" Addie asks while kneeling on my chest.

I open my eyes to see her wearing flannel pajamas with tears in her worried eyes.

"Yeah, Daddy is fine, Addie. I just had a nightmare. Let's go back to bed," I tell her.

"Okay," Addie says and moves to get off of my chest.

I see the bullet pass through my bedroom window, but for some reason, I can't move. The bullet hits the back of Addie's head and travels through it. As the bullet pierces the front of Addie's forehead, her body loses density and turns into black smoke, along with the bullet. I sit up and frantically grasp at the smoke, futilely trying to bring her back. I feel my bed lose substance and I sink into it as the Void consumes me.

****

[October 16th]

I jolt awake in my bed as the darkness of my arm fades back to silver. I shake my head to try and clear my mind of that dream when I notice a silver bracelet on my right wrist that is identical to the one Horus smashed, except that there is a Roman numeral five instead of Kali's yantra.

(To replace your old one)

"Thanks Airi."

I stand up and head into my bathroom for a shower. After drying off, I wipe down the mirror and shave, remembering Cheza's wishes. I don my black and silver suit, boots, Obliterator, and holster, before porting to Niflheim. While standing in Jason's room, I realize that I have a slight problem: I have never been to Nav and I have no clue how to get there. I'm stuck with no means to get there, until a solution dawns on me: since I was able to get to Mag Mell by simply touching my triskele and saying the name while I was in Tir na nOg, I don't see why I wouldn't be able to do the same with different districts of the Underworld.

"Nav," I say and touch my Haglaz rune.

Sure enough, I see buildings and grey pine trees around me that must belong to Nav. A man with a black beard and black hair appears next to me, dressed in leather armor.

"Hello Feros. Are you ready to go?" the man asks in the same voice as snowman Veles from last night.

"Yeah, let's get this over with," I reply, still irritated by my dream. Veles nods and puts his large mitt on my shoulder.

After the obligatory stomach lurching of porting, we arrive in a place that I can really only describe as the most elaborate tree house that I've ever seen. There are giant wooden rope bridges going to circular wooden platforms that then lead to more bridges. I see platforms and bridges curve off around a gigantic tree that's big enough to make Redwoods look like saplings. Over the edge of the wooden gazebo that Veles and I are currently standing in, I see an aerial view of Russia. Since the Great Oak seems to appear halfway towards the ground, I'm guessing that the view of Russia is just a displayed image and that this is a separate plane.

We walk across the twenty-foot long bridge from the gazebo to a large wooden platform that has eight other rope bridges branching out in all directions in the 180 degrees in front of us, and is about one hundred feet in diameter.

"He comes," Veles announces.

A lightning bolt streaks through the sky. As it approaches, I see that the lightning bolt is in the shape of a large bird, possibly an eagle. The lightning/ eagle strikes down about thirty feet from my position and warps into a large man with white hair and a white beard.

"Welcome Feros, brother," Perun says with a light Russian accent as he directs his attention to each of us when saying our names.

"Return your brother's wife," I say.

"No. He stole my cow so I stole his wife. That is fair, no?" Perun rhetorically asks.

"Not really. Return his wife or prepare to fight, your choice," I reply.

"What are you really getting for your efforts, Feros?" Perun asks.

"What do you mean?" I inquire.

"You have been deceived. The person you have been promised to see has long since moved on from Underworld. She is not in Iriy," Perun replies.

I feel a wave of anger overtake me, as if someone had promised me a meeting with Addie, only to find that it was impossible. I twist my ring and slash open my right wrist to begin drawing the Mu-cutter.

"Is this true Veles?" I ask through gritted teeth.

"Okay, so maybe I fudge truth little bit. Acehole brother still supports Loki in conquest!" Veles expounds.

"Fine... I'll just have to kill both of you then," I say as my helmet engages and Veles jumps to reposition himself to my 9 o'clock.

Veles proceeds to shout something in Russian to Perun, which I'm guessing has something to do with forming an allegiance to take me out. Perun summons a large battle axe to his right hand while replying as I notice that the axe blade has a scythe-crescent shape and looks like a sideways T. I draw my left Diamond sword and prepare myself for what is possibly the stupidest decision of my life. I watch Perun for incoming lightning bolts, figuring that I'll hear Veles's attack coming because he'll have to say a spell for it.

'Apparently I was mistaken,' I think as a burst of water hits me from my left, causing me to fly about twenty feet.

I catch a lucky break, considering that my Mu-cutter didn't accidentally slice me in half. And now it looks like I'm going to learn an important lesson in the conductivity of water! A lightning bolt hits me and my prone body flies back another thirty feet, stopping just on the edge of the platform as my Diamond sword goes flying over it.

(Picking a fight with the heads of a Category 3 pantheon was not your brightest idea)

"Perhaps was bit overkill?" I hear Veles say.

"Stories about him seem like lies now. So what now, brother? Do we fight?" Perun asks.

"No, ends same way every time. I think I'll go visit Feros girlfriend. She seems like she make good wife!" Veles chuckles.

The maw of the Void opens up in my mind, inviting me in for just a taste. I dive in without a second thought as I feel a bizarre sensation in my eyes that I can't really describe, but it's not exactly unpleasant. I'm willing to bet that they're black now like when I fought Horus.

"What makes you think this is over after a pansy ass attack like that?" I ask, my modulated voice at 'James Earl Jones' levels.

Perun responds by hurling ball lightning in my direction. The ball lightning is around three feet in diameter and speeding towards me. My blackened left arm rises on instinct and absorbs the ball lightning through my hand. I feel the tingling of the electricity on my skin as it gets sucked away into my left arm.

"So that was the infamous golden apple of Perun? Weak," I announce.

"No, that is not golden apple. _That_ is golden apple," Perun replies while pointing skyward and then he quickly runs away.

I look up and see a giant golden ball of lightning, roughly fifty feet in diameter, traveling towards me. There no way I can absorb something like that and I won't make it to a bridge before impact. I see Veles and Perun watching from an adjacent platform that is about two hundred feet away. That's within the one hundred meter restriction, but something tells me that I can do this. Just before the ball hits, I feel myself reach back with my left hand and find that I've ported to the spot behind Perun.

"Well, that may not have killed Feros, but at least chased him off!" Veles exclaims as he looks at the smoldering wreckage that used to be the left half of the platform.

"Did you see his face when he saw golden apple?" Perun laughs in front of me.

"I know, right? That acehole probably does not find this to be amusing in least!" I exclaim with my best Russian accent, which is basically just imitating Mickey Rourke from _Iron Man 2_ , before I stab the Mu-cutter through Perun's chest.

"But... HOW!? AUGH!" Perun grunts out.

"Hey, I'm just as confused as you are, pal. The only difference is that I'll be confused for a whole lot longer than you will be!" I maliciously reply before I bring the Mu-cutter up and slice through his head. Perun starts disintegrating as Veles looks in shock.

"I killed your brother, just like you wanted, Veles... too bad you can't hold up your end of the bargain," I announce as I slowly walk towards him.

To his credit, Veles knows when he's beaten and does the smart thing: he tries to run. Tries is the key word in that statement because even though he's the head of a Category 3 pantheon, I'm still only slightly slower than him and my tendrils more than make up for that difference. Veles makes a run for the gate as I give chase and throw my left arm out when I'm within range. Four black tendrils shoot out of my left arm and spear through Veles. They drag him over to my position, ten feet to the left of the missing chunk of platform, and turn him around to face me. I look into his eyes and see a great deal of fear.

"I do so love it when they sweeten the pot with fear!" I tell him in a hushed tone, as if it were a secret. My vision suddenly doubles, notifying me that I should wrap this up quickly.

"Since what you did was a minor offense, I'll give you a quick death. Isn't that kind of me? Now, to the Void with you!" I exclaim and slice off his head before quartering his body.

My legs buckle beneath me as my helmet retracts, just before I vomit up a whole lot of blood.

"Airi, what's going on?"

(Well, I don't know how to say this, but your internal organs currently resemble a pattern that is usually only seen as a result of tight lacing from corsets)

"What!?" I exclaim as my vision blurs further and the floor beneath me feels like it's rumbling, even though it's not.

(Your liver and stomach have been forced downward, your intestines are a mess, and one of your kidneys has been practically ripped in half)

"How did this happen?" I ask, but then it dawns on me: the short-distance porting.

(Yes, it is most likely from porting a distance of less than one hundred meters. At least that theory coincides with Dagda's warning. Since the gods' internal organs consist of a single, relatively solid mass, the damage done by porting would cause fractures instead of twisting and bending)

I suddenly realize that the rumbling floor beneath my feet is real, and it's a sign that the platform is falling apart. I make a break for the gate, reaching it just as the wooden rope bridge collapses behind me. The other platforms in the distance start to collapse so I quickly touch my triskele. I hit the snowy field outside the cabin with a spray of blood flying from my mouth.

(Do not fret. I shall have you patched up soon)

I lie in the snow for a few minutes, slowly falling asleep, when I hear the crunch of the snow being compacted.

"He's really quite hopeless to be Master's youngest brother, but his actions make it quite clear that he is indeed Lord Shiva's son," an Indian-accented female voice says as I lose consciousness.

...

Chapter 5: Presents and Story Time

"Someone needs to go get the girl," I hear a male voice say.

"I'll do it!" the female voice that I heard before I lost consciousness exclaims.

"No offense intended, dearest sister, but I think it would be better if I went." Nagi?

"Oh? And why is that? Looking solely at our track records, I am clearly better suited to the task," the other female voice says smugly.

"Because Chezarei knows me and there is a degree of trust so she will be willing to come with me," Nagi explains.

"Nagi has a point, Kanta. Go and fetch Chezarei for me, will you?" the male voice requests.

"Yes, Lord Murugan," Nagi replies with an air of satisfaction in her voice. I try to sit up to stop her, but I find that I am unable.

(You are not actually awake, Master. I am merely showing you the happenings around you to keep any dreams of Adelaide at bay. We don't need you accidentally channeling the Void in your current state)

I guess stopping her isn't necessary anyway... I doubt Cheza will even come...

"Is all of this really necessary?" the woman that my brother called Kanta asks.

"Considering that he just wiped an entire pantheon out of existence and that Chezarei is the only one who can stop him using peaceful means? Yes, I do see it as necessary," Murugan replies.

What does he mean, I 'wiped an entire pantheon out of existence'? Were Perun and Veles the only gods in the entire Slavic pantheon? That can't be right...

"Yes, I suppose that is true," Kanta says. I hear doors being thrown open and the clicks of heels against tile flooring.

"How is he?" Mom?

"He'll be fine, mother. I had Nagi go retrieve Chezarei as a precaution," Murugan says.

"Good. I suspected something like this might happen, but I always planned on Chezarei being there to stop him before things got this bad," Parvati says while the clicks approach me.

"You are definitely our son," Parvati whispers while brushing my hair out of my face. I feel her lips lightly touch my forehead before I hear clicks on the tile leading away from me.

"Look after your brother," Parvati says.

"Aren't you going to stay until he wakes up?" Kanta asks.

"No... he probably doesn't want to see me..." Parvati solemnly replies, heels clicking against the tile as she walks away and making me feel like utter shit.

I'm left with that shitty feeling and thoughts that Cheza wants nothing to do with me for another fifteen minutes, at which time I hear the doors being thrown open again.

"COLE!" Cheza screams as she runs into the room.

"What did you do to him!?" Cheza demands, her voice directed away from me.

"Nagi, didn't you explain the situation?" Murugan asks.

"I did not, Lord Murugan. I simply told her that Cole was injured and that she needed to come with me," Nagi replies.

"Could you please tell her the situation?" Murugan asks.

"Chezarei, it seems that Cole killed Veles and Perun, the heads of the Slavic pantheon, resulting in the destruction of the entire pantheon. Lord Murugan, Cole's brother, sent his nagas priestess, Kanta, to retrieve Cole immediately after. Once she located him at the cabin in Russia, she proceeded to rape him until he vomited blood," Nagi casually says.

"I DID NO SUCH THING! He was already like that when I found him!" Kanta proclaims.

"Riiiiiiiiight. Anyway, she _found_ him like that and brought him back here," Nagi finishes, her tone making me think that she might've used air quotes while saying that.

"Why was he fighting the Slavic gods?" Cheza asks.

"We'll have to ask him when he wakes up," Murugan replies.

"How long has he been unconscious?" Cheza inquires.

"About an hour," Kanta replies.

I hear someone walk over to the bed and sit down on it. The scent of frozen oranges enters my nostrils and I know that it's Cheza. After a few seconds, she climbs further into the bed and lies into my right side.

"Can you guys leave and turn off the lights? I'm tired and Cole won't be waking up anytime soon," Cheza requests.

"Uh, sure. Tell my little bro that Ganesha and I have a present for him when he wakes up. Come girls," Murugan says.

"Yes, Lord Murugan," Nagi and Kanta reply, almost in unison.

I hear them walk towards the door and exit the room as my brother snaps his fingers, presumably to turn off the lights.

(Cheza on Line One)

"Ah, Airi. Did you get our little... _situation_ , taken care of?"

(Yes, Mr. Treyfair)

"Really? Or do I need to come in there with a wire hanger during lunch?"

(That will not be necessary)

"Once I find a wire hanger, that is. All I have are the plastic ones... is that why they made plastic hangars in the first place!? Did using wire hangers for that reason become such a problem that they had to come up with a new device for hanging shirts!?"

(It was most likely for a more economically viable reason than thwarting at-home abortion services)

"Yeah, probably. Anyway, please connect me to Cheza."

"Cole? Can you hear me?" Cheza thinks.

"Yeah," I reply simply, unsure of what to say.

"Are you okay? I've never felt you like this before," Cheza asks.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Airi just has me in a kind of stasis to prevent any dreams while I heal," I tell her.

"I'm sorry... if I had known something like this might happen, I never would have asked Airi to block the link," Cheza quietly replies.

"That's alright... To be honest, I wasn't sure that you would come. The reason I ended up fighting Perun and Veles is because Veles promised me something that I thought would help repair our relationship, but it turned out to be a false promise," I respond, followed by several moments of silence.

"I still want us to be together, Cole," Cheza thinks.

"Why? After everything that I've put you through... Don't you get it? I've ruined your life!" I exclaim.

"I don't blame you for any of that, Cole. We can't change what's already been done, and I'm happy with my current life," Cheza responds.

"But—" I start to think.

"With some help from Natasha, I realized that even if the gods manipulated me into loving you, the love feels real to me and I'm happy when I'm with you... That's all I really need," Cheza tells me.

"That's funny. I came to a similar conclusion when I was convinced that Airi had mind-fucked me into falling in love with you in Hawaii," I reply.

"Heh, that's interesting," Cheza thinks while yawning.

"Tired?" I ask.

"Mm-hmm... it's harder to sleep when you're not next to me," Cheza replies. I feel Cheza's breathing get slower and steadier as she drifts off to sleep.

I lie there for the next several hours in my stasis-like state, just listening to Cheza sleeping next to me. I can't help but think that I don't deserve her...

(Repairs complete. In the future, I suggest saving short range porting for emergencies only and to not port again so soon after)

"Thanks Airi. Can you wake me up now?"

I feel myself slowly take control of my body, as though I were waking up normally, except that my cognitive functions don't feel groggy. I lean over and plant a kiss on Cheza's forehead, causing her eyes to slowly flutter open a few seconds later.

"Let's go home," I think to her.

"Okay... wait, your brother said he had a present for you," Cheza replies.

"I was thinking about just ignoring that..." I tell her.

"Cole, you shouldn't alienate the only family you have that hasn't screwed either of us over in any way," Cheza lightly scolds.

"I suppose you're right," I reply.

I stand up and look around at the golden and glass décor of the room. I locate my suit, Obliterator, and boots near the dresser, but I can't seem to find my holster. I assume that Murugan took it so I wouldn't leave without seeing him. Cheza puts on her black and white Converses and we walk out the door. Instead of seeing a gold and glass hallway, I see vibrant colored tropical foliage around me, and a tall waterfall to my right.

"Brother, come. Let's take a walk," a tall Indian man with wavy black hair and a red dot in the center of his forehead says after appearing next to me. Murugan is wearing white parachute-esque pants that remind me of _Aladdin_ , several gold bracelets around his wrists and ankles, and nothing else.

Cheza and I follow him towards the waterfall, where he sits down on a large silk pillow in front of a low table. I sit on the pillow across from him and Cheza sits down on the one to the right of me. Ganesha suddenly appears on the empty pillow to the left of me.

"So brother, why don't you tell us what caused you to destroy an entire pantheon," Ganesha suggests.

"Well, Veles promised me something important in exchange for helping him get his wife back from his brother, but that was actually a ploy to get me to kill Perun and he didn't have the power to give me what he promised. I was already angry about a dream that I had involving Addie so when I found out that I'd been deceived, I kind of snapped. In reality, they just caught me at a bad time, but I didn't destroy the entire pantheon. All I did was kill Veles and Perun," I reply.

"Yes, but you killed the two heads of the pantheon—the only two heads—and with no successor of power in place, the pantheon and all involved collapsed in on itself. The Nav district of the Underworld is gone, along with all of its inhabitants. Even the Pirin Mountains in Bulgaria, named for Perun, have disappeared, causing rampant flooding and a nine hundred meter drop in elevation for a town and all its residents. Some of the humans are freaking out, but thanks to false evidence planted by certain agencies, scientists are accrediting it to a massive shift in tectonic plates. Completely asinine, I know, but it has quelled the masses," Ganesha informs me.

"Wow... I really fucked up this time," I quietly respond.

"Yeah, you did. Anyway, that's not the actual reason we called you here," Murugan says.

"It's not?" I ask.

"We actually called you here to give you our 'welcome to the family' present," Ganesha says and claps his hands. Nothing happens so he claps his hands again.

"I'm going first!" I hear Nagi whisper from the tropical foliage.

"No, I am! If you go first, it will give away mine!" Kanta whispers back.

"So what!?" Nagi replies.

"*Sigh* they are such children sometimes," Ganesha says.

"I know, right? Girls! Both come out at the same time!" Murugan yells.

I hear the foliage yelp in response and then two Nagis emerge. I didn't realize that Kanta was Nagi's twin: they are both 5'9" with practically identical facial features and the same brown eyes. The only difference I can see is that Kanta's hair is shorter and she has an almost unnoticeable beauty mark beneath her left eye. Both of the sisters are carrying boxes as they walk over with slightly flushed cheeks. They each set their package down in front of me and stare at me intently. I freeze up, not wanting to offend either of them by choosing the other's package first.

Cheza looks at my indecision, sighs, and tells the girls to "Pick a number between one and ten," I give Cheza a look of admiration and thanks.

"Seven!" Kanta shouts as Nagi shouts "Five!"

"I chose six..." Cheza says and then just looks at me. The girls start staring intently at me again when a solution comes to me.

"Are either presents flammable?" I ask.

"No," my brothers each reply.

I drip my blood from my left palm onto each box and transmute the blood into Acetylene with a snap of my fingers. The wrapping paper and cardboard burn away, leaving only their contents and ash behind.

"This has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever seen you use your powers for," Cheza thinks.

"I don't want to hear a word from the person who doesn't know that you should always tell people to pick a number between one and a hundred... thanks for trying though," I reply as I blow the ash away.

Kanta's package held a metal tube that is about ten inches long, assorted springs, and a dozen pistol magazines that appear to be made of the same metal as the tube and are wider than any pistol magazine I've ever seen. Nagi's package held a holster made of an unfamiliar, strong-looking, black material with both of my Diamond swords sheathed on it. The holster has a pack with a gun holster and two magazine dispensers on each side. There is a pouch in the center of the pack that holds my silencer and the right gun holster holds my 10mm handgun, with the grip sticking out of the top. After looking closer, I see that there is actually only one magazine dispenser on the right side and that the other protrusion is the hilt of my Sic dagger.

"Thanks for retrieving my other Diamond sword and thanks for the presents, but I'm a little confused," I announce.

"I told you that we should've just gone ahead and made a prototype of the gun," Murugan says.

"He would have needed to disassemble it to make his own anyway," Ganesha replies.

"Are these the parts to make a semi-automatic .460 caliber pistol?" I guess.

"That they are. The barrel and springs are made of a special metal that father uses in the creation of weapons," Murugan says

"It's essentially unbreakable," Ganesha adds.

"Thanks! It will be nice to actually use a gun again! We're going to head back home so I can make it," I say.

"Alright, see you around, little bro!" Murugan replies as Cheza and I stand from the low table.

"Oh, and here's your phone back," Ganesha says while handing me my smartphone that now has an interesting silver case on it.

"Why did you have my phone?" I curiously ask.

"I altered it while you were sleeping. Now you can make and receive calls from any plane, including the Underworld. It will also receive service anywhere on earth and will even get 4G. I also made a specialized case for it that is waterproof and shock resistant up to a force of two hundred pounds," Ganesha says. So now I can carry my phone without having to worry about it breaking if I land on it... not that that has been an issue before, but it's still useful.

"Thanks, this will be really helpful!" I say and walk around the table.

"Nagi, can you do me a favor and tell my mother that just because I may not forgive her for what she did to Cheza, it doesn't mean that I hate her," I whisper as I pass by her. Nagi gives me a curt nod in response.

"It was nice meeting you, Kanta! See you around!" I say, grab Cheza's hand, and snap my fingers.

We appear at the gate of Mount Kailash before I touch my triskele, porting us to the front door of the house in Arizona.

"We're home!" I announce as we walk through the door.

"COLE! WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Natasha shrieks.

"Wow, news sure does travel quickly!" I nervously reply.

"That's what happens when you destroy an entire pantheon and cause a mountain range to disappear!" Natasha shouts.

"Wait, why did you think I did it?" I ask.

"The entire Agency thought you did it the second we heard that AN ENTIRE FUCKING MOUNTAIN RANGE DISAPPEARED!" Natasha screams.

"What!? Why me!? There's still a homicidal god out there trying to destroy the world and yet the second a single, tiny, insignificant mountain range disappears, I'm the one that gets accused!? That's pretty fucked up..." I mope.

"Because the lack of subtlety of the aforementioned goddamn mountain range disappearance has your name written all over it!" Natasha exclaims.

"Anyway, Tia! Look at what my brothers gave me as a present!" I say.

"COLE! You are not getting out of this that easily!" Natasha screams.

"Yeah, but can't it wait? I mean, that mountain range isn't getting more disappeared and the Slavic pantheon isn't getting any deader," I point out.

"AUGH!" Natasha replies in a resoundingly high pitched scream as she storms into the kitchen.

"Alcohol is in the top cabinet to the left of the fridge!" Tia shouts after Natasha as I show her the gun barrel.

"They said it was made of the same metal that Shiva uses to make weapons and that it's practically indestructible," I inform her.

"Alright, I'll get started on a blueprint. Just the hand guard and disarm bar this time?" Tia asks.

"Actually, just the disarm bar," I say while waving the fingers of my left hand at her.

"Haha right! I'll get started on it now. Give me about an hour," Tia says.

"Okay, I'll go fill up the cooler," I reply and stop by the kitchen to fill up some water bottles before retreating to my room. Once there, I drag the cooler out of my closet and over to my bed, which is when I realize that I have no clue how much blood the gun is going to take.

(Since the barrel is ten inches long, the overall length with be around fourteen inches and use approximately six liters)

Damn, that's a big gun. It's going to be nearly twice the size of my 10mm auto. I strip out of my suit, lie down on my bed, rest my left arm on the rim of the cooler, and proceed to drain my blood into it.

"Hey Airi? Can you tell me a story so that my mind won't wander to an unpleasant topic?"

(Yes, Master. There once was an immortal boy, and an immortal girl. In the beginning, they held nothing but love for one another. However, as the eons passed by and as they watched countless creatures rise up and destroy themselves, the girl wished to watch a single creature for longer than any of the creatures she had seen before. To keep them from destroying themselves, the girl decided to send them some guidance. She tore off pieces of herself, converted them into a form of energy, and sent them to guide the creatures.

Those forms of energy became her children and guided the creatures. However, after a while, her children started to fight amongst themselves. To stop this, the girl created separate rooms for her children and nudged them into discovering their own spaces so they wouldn't fight each other. Time passed quickly as she delighted in watching the fruits of her labors; in watching as not only her children grew up and had children of their own, but also as the creatures that intrigued her advanced and thrived under the guidance of her children, even if the guidance of different children sometimes resulted in the creatures fighting each other.

In all of her time spent watching her creatures and children, the girl grew negligent towards the boy. The boy had been happy with the way things were, when it was just he and the girl. He grew jealous of all the attention that the girl gave to her project, so he gave the girl an ultimatum. She could have either the boy or her project)

After a couple minutes of silence and a bottle of water, I'm forced to ask, "So which did she choose?"

(You have to understand, the girl didn't wish to lose either. She wanted to have them both and was willing to work to make that happen. However, the boy did not allow it, so the girl did the only thing she could think of... She ate the boy)

"What!?"

Natasha barges into my room and flings herself over me, landing on the right side of my bed.

"Cooooole. I'm sooorry I yelled at youuu. I'm sure you... that whatever was promised to you was important enough for you to kill the Slavic pantheon when you found out they lied. Let's have sex and make up!" Natasha exclaims.

"No," I tell her.

"Wwwwwhy nooooot?" Natasha whines.

"Well, for one, you are really drunk right now," I reply.

"I'm not as drunk as you think I am. See!? I even said it properly! Case dismissed, now have sex with me!" Natasha demands.

"And I'm also kind of in the middle of something," I respond.

"Huh?" Natasha replies and looks over to see my 'blood cooler'.

"Doooon't worry! You can do both!" Natasha exclaims. In one motion, she rips off my boxers and mounts me.

"Natasha!" I exclaim as she slips me inside of her.

"Doooon't worry. I'll be gentle," Natasha whispers into my ear while leaning over my chest.

Then she proceeds to lie down on my chest, and fall asleep.

(Draining complete)

"Can you finish the story now?"

(That will have to wait for another time. Get some rest)

I do as Airi suggests, _after_ withdrawing my deposit from the First National Bank of Natasha and rolling her onto the right side of the bed.

****

Chapter 6: Is this idea crazy?

"Daddy? Are you okay?" Addie asks from the crack in my door.

"I'm just fine, sweetie. I'm sorry if I scared you yesterday," I tell her with a warm smile.

"DADDY!" Addie cries while bursting into my room and jumping on my bed to hug me.

I hug her back while she cries into my shirt for a while. When she finally calms down, Addie sits down next to me and we watch cartoons for a while. I hear Addie's soft breathing about an hour later, indicating that she has fallen asleep. I look down at her peacefully sleeping face, only to find that her peacefully sleeping face is no longer there.

"Addie?" I call out. I get out of bed and head down the hall.

"Addie!?" I call out again. I hear the front door open so I rush to the living room.

"ADDIE!" I scream.

As she crosses the threshold of the house, she turns into black smoke and disappears with the wind. I rush to the threshold and fall apart in the doorway.

She's gone.

And there's nothing that I can do to bring her back.

****

[October 17th]

I jolt awake in my bed, breathing heavily in a cold sweat as two tears slip from my eyes. Natasha is sleeping soundly to my right. Seeing that it's only 2am, I slowly get out of bed so as to not awaken Natasha. I exit my room and walk next door. I quietly open the door to Cheza's room and step inside, still shaking from my dream. Cheza sits up in bed when I enter her room and examines me.

"Come here," Cheza softly beckons with her arms open.

I climb into her bed where she wraps her arms around me and holds my head to her chest. With the severity of the dreams I'm having, I can't stay in this house anymore... at least not for the time being. I'll bring it up with Cheza tomorrow.

...

I'm awakened by the sound of two loud gunshots in quick succession. I jump out of Cheza's bed and rush towards the source of the sound: the basement. Once there, I find Tia on the floor of the armory, swearing profusely while holding her stomach.

"What happened!?" I ask.

"Oh—son of a bitch—hey Cole. I was—fuck— just testing—shit—your new gun," Tia replies, swearing under her breath every so often. I see a huge silver handgun on the floor next to her.

(I took the liberty of creating the frame while you were sleeping, Master)

"It's got some—shit—kick to it. I fired it once and it recoiled out of my hands, discharging when it hit the floor, so it fails the drop-safety test," Tia explains.

I pick up the large silver gun that is modeled after a Desert Eagle and has a stiletto blade for a disarm bar that is jutting three inches past the end of the barrel. I drop the gun several times and even pitch it at the ground, but it doesn't go off.

"Seems fine to me. Maybe it just didn't like you shooting it?" I suggest.

I aim down range with my left hand and fire at the silhouette until the slide locks back eight rounds later, meaning that it can hold a max of eleven rounds if I chamber a round before loading a fresh magazine. While that seems like a very small number considering that it is less than half the capacity of my 10mm auto, I frequently fire two rounds at a time, which will be completely unnecessary with this gun.

I'd gladly take a diminished magazine capacity in exchange for bullets with a velocity 1.5 times higher, which will actually connect at a distance. Even with the fact that my blood is reducing the recoil, I still have to adjust for it to keep multiple shots on target. I reload and try shooting it in my right hand, only to find that the recoil is about three times worse.

"This is pretty sweet, but even _I_ have to deal with recoil in this gun. I can only imagine how bad it is to shoot without my blood," I tell her.

"Yeah, it's pretty rough," Tia says as she tries to get up, only to fail so I give her a hand up.

"Everything alright?" Cheza thinks.

"Yeah, Tia just accidentally shot herself," I reply.

"Ha! Serves her right for shooting you all those times! Ahem... I mean, is she alright?" Cheza inquires with mock concern.

"Well I had to amputate her leg with the Mu-cutter, but I think she'll pull through... probably," I answer.

"WHAT!?" Cheza screams.

"That was a joke... Anyway, I need to talk to you about something..." I reply.

"What about?" Cheza nervously questions.

"I need to stay someplace else for the time being. I can't handle my dreams and they are much worse when I'm here, or any other place that has something to do with her," I inform her.

"Okay... you know that I'm coming with you, right?" Cheza rhetorically asks.

"...Thanks Cheza," I softly reply.

"Hey, I'm going to find someplace else to stay for a little while. I can't really sleep here..." I say to Tia while looking at the ground. Tia gently places her hands on my shoulders.

"I understand, Cole. Just make sure to check in every now and then," Tia replies.

"I will. Thanks, Tia," I respond.

We head upstairs to have breakfast with Cheza and Sara. Sara opens her mouth to ask what happened, but then she sees the large hole in Tia's blouse, combined with the large gun in my hand, and figures it out. Natasha joins us about halfway through, looking extremely hung over. I hold my hand over her glass of orange juice and pour some of my blood into it.

"Ew..." Natasha says.

"Just drink it. It will help," I tell her.

"Airi, can you assist Natasha please?"

(What am I, your hangover cure?)

"No, you're my special genie who grants my wishes!"

(...Fine, you talked me into it)

"So Cole... I have to make a report to Carla, so would you care to explain exactly what was promised and lied about that caused you to destroy an entire pantheon?" Natasha asks after drinking her orange juice.

"To be fair, I only killed Veles and Perun, and had I known that killing them would dismantle the entire pantheon, I wouldn't have done it... probably. Veles promised that if I helped him get his wife back from Perun, which in actuality was just a ploy to get me to kill Perun, then Veles would allow a meeting with someone in Iriy, the Slavic higher plane of the Underworld that I couldn't access without his invitation," I inform her.

"Who were you promised a meeting with?" Natasha inquires.

"*Sigh*... With Cheza's mother. As you know, Cheza and I were having some... issues. I thought that she'd be happy if she could see her mother and that it might help fix our relationship. When I found out that Cheza's mom had already passed on from the Underworld, my mind somehow equated that to him promising that I could see Addie again..." I explain.

"Which resulted in you going all agro and killing everyone. Alright, I'll go call Carla and give her a version of the events," Natasha says and leaves the kitchen.

"Thanks Cole, but you know that what you did was kind of overkill, right?" Cheza thinks.

"Yeah, but back then I wasn't sure if you were coming back. When I started to think about how I might lose you... I had to do something..." I reply.

"Alright so we need to decide where we are going to be staying!" Cheza awkwardly exclaims, changing the subject.

"I was going to go talk to Jason and see if I could stay there for a while to see if that helped," I respond.

"Okay, I wanted to see how their trip went anyway!" Cheza thinks as Natasha walks back into the kitchen.

"So... I've been reassigned," Natasha announces. I'm not sure what to make of this news because I can't tell if this is good or bad based on her expression.

"Congratulations, Cole. You have officially grown notorious enough to be assigned your very own shadow! Do you want to know who the last person was that was assigned their own shadow?" Natasha sarcastically asks.

"Who?" I inquire, obviously wishing for further punishment.

"No one! It was a hypothetical position in The Agency before you came along!" Natasha exclaims hysterically. Natasha sits down and lets her head thud to the table.

"The amounts of paperwork your antics cause alone kill forests," Natasha says, her voice muffled by the table. Was that a haiku...?

"Well, cheer up, buddy!" I exclaim. Natasha slowly lifts her head off of the table to glare at me.

"Think of it this way. We are headed to Niflheim and won't be staying here, so it's basically a vacation!" Cheza adds, putting a positive spin on things.

"Yeah, I suppose. I'm going to go take a shower," Natasha groans and leaves the kitchen.

"Cole, come to my room for a moment," Sara says and walks down the hall. I follow her and shut her bedroom door behind me.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Here, to replace your other one," Sara replies while tossing me a new armored leather jacket. I notice that this one has a zipper at mid-bicep level on the left sleeve.

"You're just going to keep shredding through the left sleeves so I came up with this. Now you can take the sleeve off, if you have time, but even if you get caught in a situation where you can't, I can just switch out the ruined sleeve with a new one instead of replacing the whole jacket," Sara explains.

"Thanks, Sara. Oh, by the way, Cheza and I are going to stay in Niflheim for a while," I quietly inform her.

"Okay, Cole. Take as much time as you need," Sara gently says while embracing me.

"Thanks," I reply while hugging her back.

I head to my room and take a quick shower before dressing in jeans, a white t-shirt, and my new jacket. I walk out into the living room and find Cheza and Natasha waiting for me, both dressed in t-shirts and jeans.

"Let's get going," I say to them.

They stand up from the couch and grab my left arm while I touch my Haglaz to port us to Niflheim. A few moments after we arrive, Jason bursts into the room.

"CT! You always know when I need you! Ladies, can you give us some time alone?" Jason asks with a slightly crazed look in his eyes.

"Umm, sure... come on, Natasha," Cheza replies and they both exit the room.

"Okay, I need you to tell me if what I'm thinking of doing is crazy and then try to talk me out of it if it is," Jason rapidly says.

"Uh, what are you thinking about doing?" I cautiously question.

"I'm going to ask Reyna to marry me!" Jason exclaims.

I respond by slapping him.

"Get a hold of yourself! That's insane!" I exclaim.

"But—" Jason starts.

"I don't care what she can do with her leg and a lampshade! You two have only been dating for like six weeks! Do you even really know her?" I ask.

"I'm pretty sure I know everything about her," Jason replies.

"What's her favorite color?" I inquire.

"Red," Jason answers.

"Favorite food?" I ask.

"You," Jason answers. I feel this odd combination of pride and spine tingling levels of creepy.

"When's her birthday?" I question.

"October 31st, Halloween," Jason replies.

"Favorite animal?" I inquire.

"Koala," Jason answers. Damn murder bears...

"Favorite band?" I ask.

"Manchester Orchestra," Jason replies.

"Really? Huh... I never would have guessed she'd be a fan of alternative. Biggest fear?" I question.

"Bats," Jason confidently answers.

"Seriously? Wow, that's embarrassing for an azeman," I reply.

"Yeah, she told me not to... tell... anyone..." Jason says as his face falls.

"Don't worry, bro. My lips are sealed. Next question: number of kids she wants to have?" I ask.

"Two, a boy and a girl, one of which may be on the way..." Jason quietly responds.

"Reyna's pregnant!?" I ask in an urgent, yet hushed, tone. Jason nods once in response.

"Okay then you're going to marry her regardless because you're a man, aren't you!?" I ask, trying to get him pumped up.

"Yeah..." Jason replies, not so enthusiastically.

"AREN'T YOU!?" I shout.

"HELL YEAH!" Jason shouts back.

"I'm going to go propose right now!" Jason exclaims and starts to march out the door.

"Whoa there! Just because this is a shotgun wedding doesn't mean you can skip the formalities and not give her the proposal she's always dreamed of," I explain.

"That's true, but I don't know what her dream proposal is," Jason says.

"Don't worry, I've got it covered. Just sit down and give Cheza a moment to get the information," I tell him and open my connection with Cheza.

"Hey, are you with Reyna?" I think.

"Yeah, what's up?" Cheza replies.

"I need you to start talking about wedding related stuff and find out what Reyna's dream proposal is," I request.

"Why?" Cheza asks.

"Long story short? Reyna is pregnant so Jason is going to ask her to marry him and needs to know what her dream proposal is so he can set it up. That last bit being my idea," I answer.

"Okay, give me a couple minutes," Cheza replies.

"So how did you manage to get Reyna pregnant?" I ask Jason.

"Just an outcome of the circumstances, I guess. Looking back, neither of us was using birth control because neither of us had needed it before. I was used to fucking ghosts, which can't get pregnant, and she was used to fucking girls. No real possibility for pregnancy there," Jason replies.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense... in a stupid sort of way," I reply.

"Alright, she says that her dream proposal is in front of a lot of people, next to a blood fountain, fireworks optional," Cheza thinks a few moments later.

"Thanks, Cheza!" I respond and relay the information to Jason.

"So now we need to think of a date where we can set this up without her getting suspicious..." I say.

"A date that's close by, where we can throw a party with a blood fountain without Reyna getting suspicious..."Jason adds.

The answer must have dawned on us at the same time because we simultaneously exclaim, "Halloween!"

"Okay, let's never do that again. That was seriously lame," I say after a few moments of awkward silence.

"Agreed," Jason replies.

...

Chapter 7: The Halloween Proposal

Jason and I spend the next two weeks planning for the party. As the saying goes "There ain't no party like a *undisclosed celebrity* party!" so we recruited *undisclosed celebrity* to help us plan the party. Sean is actually a minor demigod so recruiting him in promise for a nice set up in Niflheim for his afterlife wasn't too difficult, but getting to him to make the offer was...

"Hello," I say to the cameras outside *undisclosed celebrity*'s house in Miami Beach, Florida.

"Whatever it is you want, the answer is no," the guard replies over the intercom.

"I'm a representative from Nifl—" I start to say.

"No," the intercom interrupts.

I take a few steps back and look at the eight foot, wrought iron gate. I engage my helmet and get a running leap over the gate. Two NFL linebacker sized guards come out of a small structure in the right corner of the property, pull Glock 22s with laser sights out of their hip holsters, and open fire. I calmly walk up to the front door as the .40 S&W rounds hit my jacket and fall to the ground. I ring the doorbell and wait for three minutes as the guards run out of bullets and stop firing. The door suddenly opens and Sean blasts me with USAS-12 automatic shotgun. I fly back off of the porch and land on my back.

"You a vampire or a werewolf?" Sean asks while pointing his shotgun at my prone form.

"Neither," I reply as I slowly get up, dust myself off, and disengage my helmet.

"I'm a representative of Niflheim and I'm here on behalf of its Prince," I inform him.

"Do you have any proof of that?" Sean questions without lowering his shotgun.

"They don't hand out badges, if that's what you're asking. I do have this, though," I answer, unzip my jacket, and lift up my shirt to show him my right pectoral. Sean lowers his shotgun upon seeing the ethereal silver of the Haglaz rune.

"Well, come in and we'll talk," Sean replies and turns to walk into the house.

I follow him in, past a grand foyer, down a hall, and into a large kitchen with island bar style seating in the center of the kitchen.

"Sorry about shooting you. Can I get you something to drink," Sean asks.

"A glass of water would be nice. Don't sweat it. I understand that you were just trying to protect your family from a perceived threat," I reply as Sean walks over to the refrigerator.

"So what does the Prince of Niflheim need from me?" Sean inquires as he passes me a bottle of Fuji water.

"He needs your assistance in planning a Halloween/ birthday party that will double as a surprise proposal to his girlfriend," I explain and then one of the guards comes into the kitchen.

"Mr. Combs, four squad cars are here about the gun shots and they're demanding that you come out," the guard explains. Sean sighs and shakes his head in response.

"Don't worry, I'll handle this," I say before heading down the hall and out the door.

I pull out my Agency badge as I walk towards the open gate. I see a total of eight officers, six with guns drawn and pointed at me. One of the officers sees my badge and orders the others to stand down.

"Easy, officers. There are no problems here and all of the reported gunshots were fake calls," I report as I show the lead officer my badge. His partner runs my badge into the computer in the squad car and comes back.

"The badge came back with instructions for PD to ignore any situation he's involved in unless he requests assistance," the partner whispers. The commanding officer looks me up and down for a moment.

"We apologize for the intrusion. Have a good day," the head officer says and motions for everyone to leave. I wave as the cars drive off before heading back into the house.

"The police have been dealt with and it should keep the media off of the incident as well," I inform Sean.

"So the Prince needs to throw a kickass party? That is something I can help with," Sean says with a smile.

"Good! I've been asked to take you to the Underworld to meet him," I reply.

"How are we getting there?" Sean asks.

"We'll be porting there. It's like teleportation with an added feeling of falling," I explain.

"How does it work?" Sean inquires.

"I don't actually know. Just grab onto my arm, I'll touch the rune on my chest, and it'll take us there," I reply.

Sean hesitantly grabs my left arm and I touch my Haglaz rune. We appear in Jason's bedroom as Sean looks slightly stunned. Jason appears with a swirl of black mist a moment later.

"Sean! So glad you could make it! I'm Jason, Prince of Niflheim. Let me show you what you'll be working with," Jason says and exits the room.

Sean and I follow him down the hall, past Reyna's room, and out onto the balcony that overlooks the gigantic, walled, rear courtyard that contains a ten foot tall fountain in the center.

"This is where we were planning on having it. I assume that Cole has already told you what I need your help with. And how does Afterlife security sound for your efforts?" Jason asks.

"Why would I need security in the afterlife?" Sean questions.

"Not like that. I mean that I'll have it so you and your family will be set up for the duration of your afterlife," Jason explains and Sean thinks it over for a few moments.

"We are gonna throw the greatest Halloween party the Underworld has ever seen!" Sean exclaims.

I'm pleasantly surprised to find that he's a pretty cool guy and quite a bit like the character he plays in _Get Him to the Greek_.

Roughly a week after I arrive, I run into an exhausted looking Hel. I expect her to scold me, but she never does.

"No more destroying pantheons and making districts disappear from the Underworld... it's exhausting," is all Hel says as she passes by.

The rest of the week is rather uneventful and, much to my relief, I'm able to go the whole two weeks without dreaming, sleeping soundly through the nights with Cheza by my side.

...

[October 31st]

The obsidian walls of the rear courtyard make perfect screens for the projectors that are set up all over the place. Teams of workers are still setting up the massive sound system, alcohol, and various 'party favors' as a pair of snow elf ice sculptors set up what has to be the most elaborate ice luge I've ever seen: this thing looks like a damn Hot Wheels race track. I direct some deliverymen over to the bar area when I remember something.

"I still have some things that I need to get done. Can you handle things here?" I ask Sean.

"No problem. You go do what you need to do, I've got it covered. Hey! The flaming pyramid goes over there, so why are you setting it up here?" Sean rhetorically asks a group of workers that are in the process of setting up the ten foot pyramid of goblets that are going to be filled with alcohol and set on fire until they spell a message to Reyna.

Confident that Sean can handle things, I head up the grand staircase to the second floor balcony and into the house. I walk down the hall and stop in front of Reyna's bedroom door. I knock twice before opening it.

"DON'T COME IN!" all three girls scream.

"What? It's not like I haven't seen all of you naked!" I shout back.

"What do you want!?" Natasha asks, poking her head around the door.

"Don't I need to go pick up Naia and Ryuji? I have no idea where I'm supposed to go," I tell her.

"Oh... Ryuji said that they would wait in the Seattle office's tech area so you'd have a familiar place to port to," Natasha replies, somewhat abashed.

"Alright I'll go pick them up and bring them back here. See you later," I respond as Natasha closes the door.

I touch my Haglaz rune to port to the tech lab of The Agency's Seattle office. I see Ryuji sitting in an office chair nearby as Naia stands in front of him with her hands on his shoulders.

"You will be fine, just breathe. You still have about an hour until you meet them," Naia tells a hyperventilating Ryuji. Naia is wearing a black halter top dress and Ryuji is wearing a tuxedo that appears to have been modified for his wings somehow.

"What's wrong, Ryuji?" I ask.

"Oh hello, Cole. Ryuji is nervous about meeting Milady and my mother for the first time," Naia answers.

"Don't worry, man. You'll be fine!" I tell Ryuji and his expression lifts.

"Probably... Anyway, are you two ready to go?" I ask as Ryuji's expression darkens.

Ryuji reluctantly grabs my arm with Naia and I port us all to Jason's room.

"Hey guys! Whoa! What's his problem?" Jason asks, gesturing to Ryuji's sad state.

"He's meeting both of his girlfriend's mother figures tonight," I tell him as Ryuji slumps onto the couch.

"Oh, come on! It can't be that bad! I met my girlfriend's mother a couple weeks ago and she's the Queen of the Azeman! It wasn't so bad..." Jason says.

"Dude, Naia's 'mothers' are the Queen of the Jinn and Isis," I inform him.

"Shit, seriously? Well... you might be fucked!" Jason exclaims. Ryuji groans and buries his face in his hands.

"You are too uptight! Here—" Jason starts to snap his fingers.

"No!" I exclaim and smack his hand down.

"What? I was just going to get him a drink," Jason innocently replies.

"Fine, but not too much. Come on, Naia. I'm sure the girls want to see you," I say and lead Naia out into the hall.

"So how goes your relationship with your mother?" I ask as we head down the hall.

"It goes well. Thank you, Cole. Without you, I do not know where our relationship would be, but it most likely would not be amicable," Naia says.

"Don't mention it," I reply.

"But I must! You have done so much for me, even after the horrible things I've put you through..." Naia responds as she starts to tear up.

"So how is your mother getting here?" I ask, trying to change the subject.

"She is currently in Duat so she will be accompanying Milady to the party," Naia replies.

"Why is Tali in Duat?" I inquire.

"She has been in negotiations with the Egyptian pantheon to improve relations after the damage done by Horus. You did the jinn a great service by destroying him. Mother even commissioned a statue of you to be erected in the palace courtyard," Naia answers.

"Seriously? A statue?" I get this image of an angry mob tearing it down and proceeding to piss on the head.

"Anyway, here we are," I say, stopping in front of Reyna's door and knocking on it.

"DON'T COME IN!" the girls shout.

"Naia is here. See you guys later," I shout and head further down the hall.

I step out onto the balcony and watch over the set up for a few minutes. Upon seeing that Sean still has everything covered, I return to Jason's room.

"What... in... the... hell!?" I slowly ask in quiet astonishment as I see Jason lying on the floor next to a bucket in the bathroom.

"Hey bro—" Jason greets, being interrupted by the vomit flying from his mouth, only half managing to make it into the bucket he's holding. I notice that he has vomit all over the front of his tuxedo.

"What in the fuck happened!?" I ask.

"Well, I gave Ryuji a couple of drinks and when I realized that I was asking Reyna to marry me in a couple of hours, I started getting nervous so I had a few—" Jason says, being interrupted once again. "drinks. Next thing I know, Ryuji and I are way too drunk so I got us a couple bottles of ipecac."

"Noooo! HOW!? I haven't even been gone for thirty minutes!" I reply.

"I'm dying. I seriously think I'm dying! Tell Naia that I love h—" Ryuji is interrupted by the echoic sound of vomit flying into a toilet.

"Now you guys are going to be sleepy as fuck all!" I say and then I hear a knock at the door. "Fuck!"

"DON'T COME IN!" I shout.

"What? Why?" Natasha asks as she starts to open the door. I rush over and slam it shut.

"I SAID DON'T COME IN! JUST WAIT FOR US IN THE KITCHEN!" I yell while holding the door closed.

"Cole, what's going on?" Cheza sternly asks.

"I'll explain later, just go wait in the kitchen please," I beg. The girls don't say anything else as they walk away.

"I'll go keep them preoccupied. Get yourselves cleaned up and make sure to get some coffee or something to counteract the lethargy you'll feel from the ipecac," I tell them and leave the room.

I walk into the kitchen and see Cheza wearing a sexy angel outfit that is just two swathes of white cloth covering her pink bits, and presumably holding up the feathery white wings on her back, with a golden headband to complete the image and pull her hair back. Natasha is wearing a sexy devil outfit that is mostly just a red mini skirt, tube top, and devil horns. I notice that Naia is wearing devil horns too, but hers are purple.

"I like your costumes! Where did you find purple devil horns though?" I ask.

"We didn't. We just painted a pair of red ones with purple nail polish," Natasha says, blatantly proud of the fact.

"So what was that all about?" Cheza asks.

"What?" I innocently reply while stalling and Cheza narrows her eyes at me. "Oh, that. I just wanted to let you guys know how that felt. After all you did that to me twice!"

"Bullshit. Don't lie to me, Cole," Cheza thinks, her malicious tone spearing through my mind.

"Jason and Ryuji got way too drunk so Jason got them two bottles of ipecac to try and sober them up and now the entire bathroom is covered in vomit," I quickly reply. I'm vaguely toying with the idea that Natasha and Cheza should have switched costumes.

"Unbelievable..." Cheza sighs while shaking her head.

"Were you just thinking that Cheza and I should switch costumes?" Natasha thinks.

"Whaaaaat?" I reply in a high-pitched fashion that makes it obvious I was thinking exactly that.

"Haha don't worry, I won't tell," Natasha thinks with a sly smile.

"So what made you decide to go as a devil?" I ask aloud.

"Well, Cheza and I wanted to have paired costumes since we are both escorting you so we decided to be your conscience. After that we just flipped a coin," Natasha replies. This is the first I'm hearing about being both of their dates, but it's hardly surprising.

"Where's your costume, Reyna?" I inquire while looking at her ruby red, backless dress.

"I'm going as 'the azeman princess whose birthday it is so she can wear whatever the hell she wants'. What's your excuse?" Reyna snidely asks.

"I'm going as a partially wrapped mummy," I say while holding up my bandaged left hand. Sean comes down the hall and waves me over.

"Guests have started to arrive and I have a party to get to in Miami so can you get me back there?" Sean asks.

"Sure, just a second," I reply and walk back to the girls.

"Guests have started showing up. I don't know what's taking those two so long, but can you guys go out and entertain people?" I request.

"Sure. We'll see you when you get back," Cheza says and leads the girls to the balcony doors.

I port Sean back to his house in Miami Beach.

"Thanks again for all your help. We couldn't have pulled this off without you," I tell Sean while standing on the front porch of his house.

"Don't worry about it. Tell our Prince that I send him my best," Sean replies and heads inside.

I wait on the porch for the remaining thirty seconds to pass and port to Jason's room to see what's taking them so long, only to find that it's empty. I walk down the hall and head outside to find Jason chatting with people while wearing a black cloak, and Ryuji getting a pep-talk from Naia. While walking down the left staircase, I discover something that is slightly creepy, slightly flattering, and slightly insulting: there are two guys wearing jeans and leather jackets with silver helmets. They're dressed like me! For Halloween! I wonder how often Marilyn Monroe has to deal with shit like this... probably a lot...

"Noticing the people dressed as you?" Tali asks from behind me.

"Yeah, it's a little unnerving, but not exactly impossible to understand given the events of two weeks ago..." I reply as I turn around and see that she's wearing a form-fitting periwinkle dress to match her hair and eyes.

"Yes, what was that about anyway?" Tali inquires.

"I wouldn't have killed them both had someone thought to inform me that if you kill all the heads of a pantheon before they can pass on their power, you end up destroying the whole pantheon," I explain.

"No one thought to tell you that?" Tali asks, showing genuine surprise.

"I know, right? I guess I surprised everyone by killing gods totally for the first time!" I sarcastically exclaim. Tali laughs, causing me to chuckle as well.

"Who is that guy talking to?" I hear a girl ask while I'm laughing, which makes me realize that no one here can see Tali.

"So, are you looking forward to meeting your daughter's boyfriend for the first time?" I ask.

"Yes, I am. I must thank you for reuniting us, Cole. And I do understand why you didn't tell me about her immediately upon realizing the connection," Tali says.

"Don't mention it, but how do you feel about meeting Ryuji? Do you even want to meet him?" I inquire.

"Of course I do! I'm just nervous..." Tali replies.

"That's exactly how he feels about meeting you. Well, if you are keen on meeting him, then you are going to need one of these. Right now, the only people that can see you are me, Chezarei, Naia, and any gods," I tell her and unwind the bandages from my left hand.

"Airi, if you'd please."

(As you wish, Master)

A black-ish bangle forms in the palm of my left hand while I try to keep the process as discrete as possible. I don't feel a drastic shift in the mood at the party so I'll assume that I was successful.

"What is it?" Tali questions while examining the bangle as I rewrap my hand.

"Naia wears one just like it. Without it, no one would be able to see her either," I reply.

"So someone has been a naughty boy lately!" Isis exclaims behind me and I feel a small amount of dread at seeing her for the first time since I killed Horus. I suppose I should start off by apologizing...

"I'm sorry for killing your son. I may not be sorry for killing Horus, but I do apologize for killing your son," I say as I turn around. Isis is wearing a form-fitting golden dress that is similar to the one she was wearing when I first met her.

"Thanks, Cole. I understand why you had to kill him and don't worry. I don't hold it against you. Osiris does, however, so I'd stay out of his way if I were you," Isis warns.

"Is he here tonight?" I ask.

"No, he's not really big into parties," Isis says. I see Ryuji walking over with Naia, looking cool and calm, which confuses me to no end.

"Cole! It's good to see you again!" Ryuji ecstatically says as he reaches out and touches the lapel of my tux. "Is that silk? Because that feels fantastic!"

"Good evening, ladies! It is nice to make your acquaintance! I'm Ryuji. You must be Naia's mother, making you the lovely goddess Isis!" Ryuji exclaims while shaking both of their hands.

"Both of your hands are like, incredibly soft. What moisturizer do you use?" Ryuji asks, I fake a laugh and decide to help him out.

"Haha, Ryuji? Can I borrow you for a second? It will just take a second," I say, grab him by the shoulders, and drag him to a spot about fifteen feet away.

"Ryuji, what in the hell has gotten into you!?" I urgently whisper.

"I don't know! Jason and I started to get insanely sleepy and Jason said that simple caffeine wouldn't help something that strong so he grabbed a pill bottle from the bathroom that contained round blue pills. He said it was Adderall, but I had Adderall before in college and this most definitely does not feel like Adderall!" Ryuji panics.

"Yeah, it seems a bit more like ecstasy. How many did you take?" I question.

"Two! Jason said they were low strength and took three himself!" Ryuji replies.

"So he most likely didn't know either. You think that he would at least remember what pills he put where," I comment.

"Cole, what do I do!?" Ryuji asks in a panicked fashion.

"Focus on trying to avoid touching anything and try not to talk so much. Also keep an eye on your body temperature. If you start getting chills, it means your temp is too high and we may have to treat you for an overdose. Jason should be fine given his tolerance, but this might hit you pretty hard," I say and Ryuji starts to freak out a bit.

"Relax, I'll help you through this," I say and lead him back to Naia, Tali, and Isis.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Ryuji! You are correct, I am Isis. Come here!" Isis exclaims and swiftly moves in to hug him as I see the mischievous smile on her face. She totally heard us. Ryuji quietly moans and shivers when Isis embraces him. Thankfully, he was able to keep his mouth closed so that no one else heard him.

"Come on, Isis. Give the guy a break," I whisper while covering my mouth with my hand.

"Do I have to? I promise I'll only make him cum in his pants once!" Isis whispers.

I give her a look to inform her that that is not cool and she pulls away from Ryuji. He gives a sigh of relief as the music stops and the projectors along the walls display Jason's spot on the balcony. Now that I have a zoomed in image of him, I see that his cape is part of his vampire costume: that is hilarious.

"Testing. This is working, right? Alright... For those of you who don't know, I'm Jason, Prince of Niflheim. Thanks for coming out tonight to help celebrate Halloween and my girlfriend Reyna's birthday. Happy birthday babe!" Jason announces.

The alcohol pyramid sparks up and spells out 'Happy Birthday Reyna,' in flames. I notice that Jason is holding onto the balcony railing with his left hand while his right is gripping his left wrist like he's trying to break it. This seems like the kind of thing that I would do if I had to give a speech and was worried about absentmindedly stroking my nipples during it.

"And to everyone else, Happy Halloween. Drink, be merry, and enjoy yourselves!" Jason exclaims while raising a glass of amber liquid.

Alright, so the first part of the plan has gone off without a hitch... if you don't call the drinking, vomiting, and ecstasy, a hitch. Natasha and Cheza walk over and hand me a drink.

"Isis, Tali, this is my fiancée Chezarei, whom Tali knows, and this is Natasha, my friend and ex snow elf fiancée," I introduce.

"It's good to see you again, Chezarei. Wait, so Natasha is an ex snow elf who is also your fiancée, or is she your ex fiancée who is a snow elf?" Tali asks.

"No, she is my ex fiancée for a wedding that only pertained to snow elf society. We're just friends," I remark. "How could she be an ex snow elf?"

"Well, you never know when you're involved, Cole," Isis chimes in.

"It's nice to meet you, Natasha," Tali says, obviously still a bit confused.

"Likewise Queen Tali, and to you as well, your highness," Natasha says to both of them.

The night continues on with chatting and drinking as I keep an eye on Ryuji. Jason and Reyna come over and join us before Jason excuses himself and takes the stage of the balcony where he announces the winner of the costume contest. He chooses someone dressed as Feros just to spite me, which I know because he looks directly at my face the entire time to judge my reaction. Jason comes back down, proceeds to invite Reyna to dance, and asks Ryuji and Naia to join them, presumably so he and Ryuji could work out some of their ecstasy-fueled inclinations toward grinding without it looking completely out of place.

Towards the end of the night, Jason takes Reyna's hand, positions himself next to the fountain and turns on his microphone.

"Now, I ask that you all join me in singing happy birthday to Reyna," Jason announces as a squad of servants wheels in a 'stripper-cake' sized cake along with forks and plates. We sing happy birthday and people start to line up for cake.

"I've got one more surprise for you, Reyna," Jason says.

"Come on, Jason! Cake!" Reyna whines.

"This will just take a second," Jason says and takes a small black box out of his jacket pocket. He gets down on one knee and holds up the box.

"Reyna Reyes, will you marry me?" Jason asks and opens the box to display the contents. As he opens the box, the fountain turns on and blood cascades down it.

"Jason, I don't want you to feel like you have to do this just because..." Reyna trails off to sniff twice in the direction of the fountain. "Is that AB negative? Cole's AB negative?"

"Yes it is, and _that_ isn't the only reason I'm asking. I love you, Reyna. You make the Underworld a brighter place and I always want you to be by my side. So what do you say?" Jason inquires.

Several tears slip from Reyna's eyes before she nods in affirmation. Jason takes the ring out of the box and slides it on her left hand. Reyna throws her arms around him and kisses him before pulling away.

"Okay, I need you, you, and you working on bottling and refrigerating this as quickly as possible," Reyna orders the servants, having done a complete one-eighty on the 'tearful joy' thing.

"Reyna, only about ten percent of that is my blood. It seems that the pumps won't work with liquid as thick as blood so we had to mix it with water. I'll give you some fresh blood as a birthday present," I tell her.

"Oh, alright... Now, I do believe it's time for cake!" Reyna exclaims.

...

Chapter 8: Post Engagement Plans

[November 1st]

"So we need to go tell my mother the good news," Reyna says at breakfast the next morning.

"Yeah, let's go after breakfast," Jason says from the kitchen.

"What do you guys want to do?" I ask Ryuji and Naia.

"I think we should probably head home. We have work tomorrow," Ryuji replies.

"Where are you working, Naia?" I inquire.

"I've been training her as an analyst for The Agency. She's a really fast learner!" Ryuji praises and Naia looks away with flushed cheeks.

"That's great! Let me finish eating and I'll port you back to the Seattle office," I say before Natasha suddenly tenses up and starts breathing heavily with her eyes closed. She snaps out of it a few moments later.

"There's going to be an assassination attempt on Maria!" Natasha exclaims. I shovel the rest of my breakfast into my mouth.

"Porting you two home is going to have to wait," I tell them and Ryuji nods in response.

Cheza and I run to Jason's room to get our things. I grab my jacket and holster while Cheza grabs the Synergistic blades and quickly jumps into her suit. I unzip the sleeve of my jacket while Cheza is getting dressed and then we head back into the kitchen. Jason proceeds to port Cheza, Reyna, Natasha, and I to the long driveway leading to Maria's mansion

"Cheza, I need you to stay here and protect Natasha and Reyna while Jason and I go clear the house. Natasha, where is Maria?" I ask.

"She appeared to be in the main office at the back of the house," Natasha replies.

"Hold up! How about Jason stays here while you and I go?" Cheza suggests in a manner that seems more like an order.

"I'm okay with that," Jason shrugs.

"Fine, let's go," I reply and Cheza takes off towards the house, Synergistic blades in hand.

I follow after her and catch up quickly, still being a bit faster than her under normal circumstances. I spot an enhanced vampire clad in tight black clothing pinning the Latina azeman maid that greeted us when we were here a few weeks ago. Not trusting the new gun's ability to make the kill without collateral damage, I pull my 10mm auto with my right hand and blow a hole into the vampire's stomach. He raises his head and turns around enough for me to pull my new gun with my left hand and fire a round into his head. My new gun immediately impresses me as the vampire's entire fucking head just explodes.

Cheza and I make our way down the hall and into the sitting area that leads to the central courtyard when I see two more enhanced vampires clad in black, engaging two vampires in servant's uniforms.

"Would you do the honors?" I think to Cheza.

Cheza smirks at me and hurls both Synergistic blades simultaneously. The blades find their marks and stick into the left shoulders of the enemy vampires, the eighteen inch blades protruding out their chests. Vampires might be able to survive that, but they won't be getting up anytime soon. Although, I tend to trust destroying the brain or severing limbs to make sure that they stay down. I turn around to give Cheza praise with a minor critique when I see something: four more enhanced vampires entering the area, one from the right, one from the left, and two coming down the hall.

With Cheza currently unarmed, I'm not about to let these guys anywhere near her. Using my peripheral vision, I raise both guns and fire at the approaching vampires to my left and right. The vampire to the left has an exploded head and I get lucky with the right vampire, nailing one out of three 10mm auto JHP rounds through his eye socket. I raise both guns and dispatch the two vampires rushing at us from the hall, easily getting another eye-shot with the vampires' linear movements.

I have to admit, dual-wielding guns is pretty badass. I'm just glad that I have the enhanced reflexes to be able to manage both accurately.

("Give a guy a gun, he thinks he's Superman. Give him two and he thinks he's God.")

"Busting out the _Hard Boiled_ quotes now are we, Airi?"

"Thanks, Cole... I guess it was kind of stupid to throw away my only weapons, huh?" Cheza thinks.

"Don't worry about it. You're getting better, Cheza. I'm proud of you," I reply with a smile.

Cheza looks at me with flushed cheeks as she pulls a little too hard when yanking her blade out of the back of the fallen vampire, causing a couple droplets of blood to splatter her cheek. After retrieving her other blade, Cheza and I continue into the courtyard from the sitting area. Natasha said that the room Maria is in is on the far side.

"Split up? You take left, I'll take right?" Cheza asks when we hear fighting coming from both sides of the courtyard.

"Sure, just be careful," I reply.

Cheza smiles and gives me a quick kiss before heading around to the right. As I watch her leave, I can't help but think 'Damn, she looks great in leather suits.' I make my way to the left and I don't run into any vampires until I reach the double doors that lead to the dining room. I see a familiar French brunette pinned underneath a blonde vampire woman, whom is sucking her neck.

"Hey bitch!" I yell.

The enhanced vampiress looks up and over her shoulder quickly, just in time to see the bullet hit her between the eyes. I rush over to the French maid and pull the practically decapitated vampiress off of her. The maid is unconscious and her neck is bleeding profusely, but she is still alive. I set my .460 gun down and place my left hand over the maid's neck wound. I form a quick seal to stop the bleeding before picking my gun back up and moving on. I exit out into the courtyard and make my way to the back of it unhindered.

"Where are you, Cheza? Do you need help?" I think.

"Just finishing up... incoming," Cheza replies in time for me to see a frozen decapitated head sailing toward me.

I step to the side and the head shatters into meat cubes on impact with the tile patio. Cheza comes around the corner, brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face. She stops in front of me, sets a hand on her hip, and smirks at me. Unable to control myself any longer, I lift Cheza up and press my mouth to hers as she wraps her legs around my waist. I press her against the nearest stucco wall and start to unzip her suit.

"You know, we still have to help Maria..." Cheza reminds me.

"Right... we should probably do that..." I reply in a downtrodden fashion.

"Later," Cheza whispers in my ear.

I smile at her and we open the glass doors on the back wall of the courtyard. I hear voices coming from the room behind a set of wooden double doors to the right as we enter the back of the house.

"How dare you threaten us with Feros, you treacherous cunt!" a man says.

"Now, now, Count. There is hardly a need for such language," Maria says with a mocking tone.

"Shove it, bitch. I am so going to enjoy driving this blade into your chest and cutting out your heart!" the man replies.

"I very much doubt that you will ever get the chance," Maria taunts.

"Oh, really? You think you and your bodyguard can stand up against me and the twenty commandos here? Each one of them is over one hundred years old! And with the added enhancements that we've all taken, you don't stand a chance!" the man responds.

"No, I don't think my bodyguard and I would fare too well against all of you; however, the man behind those doors might," Maria says. How had she known I was here? I holster my 10mm auto, calmly open the doors, and stride in.

"Hello Maria. Would you like me to kill the Count?" I politely ask while scanning the room.

Maria is sitting at a large desk that is near the back wall, fifty feet away, with her bodyguard next to her while the Count and the commandos are twenty feet from her and thirty feet away from me.

"I would appreciate it if you could just maim him. I have several questions for him," Maria replies.

I localize some of my blood, which he drank three weeks ago, into his left leg and transmute it into nitroglycerine while snapping my fingers for effect. The Count's leg explodes at the knee and he falls to the ground screaming.

"So, for the last twenty... split them down the middle?" Cheza thinks.

"Show me what you've got," I reply as my helmet engages.

I raise my .460 S&W and fire at the nearest commando. Her head explodes while the bullet continues on and makes the head of the vampire behind her explode as well. Two exploded heads for the price of one? I totally love this gun! I take out three more before the slide locks back. I'm about to reload when two vampires bear down on me with swords. Whilst blocking both swords using my left arm, I draw the Diamond sword from over my right shoulder and slice through the right vampire's neck. I swing my arm towards the left swordsman, deflecting the sword from my arm before severing the second vampire's head from his shoulders.

Cheza side steps around a sword's stab before scissoring off the arm. She finishes by eviscerating the vampire with her left blade as she stabs his heart with the right. I see ice form in front of the feet of her next target, causing him to slide forward linearly while Cheza hurls one of the Synergistic blades through his face. She rushes forward and snatches the blade from the vampire's face before his body can hit the floor. She ducks under a slash and moves to the side to cut through another vampire's neck.

Not one to be outdone, I eject the empty magazine, slide in a new one, and sprint towards my next target. I thrust the stiletto disarm bar into the right eye socket of my target before jiggling the gun to destroy the brain and firing past the right side of my target's head. I take out two more commandos with headshots before the final vampire gets a shot to the stomach, dropping him to his knees as I pull the stiletto out of his comrade's skull. I run up to him, jump into the air, and do a flip before bringing my Diamond sword down on the vampire's head. I'm able to hit his head dead center, but my sword gets stuck in his lumbar. Next thing I know, I'm lifting him over my head by my sword, and then slamming him into the ground repeatedly. It's as though I were chopping wood and then the axe blade got stuck on a knot in the wood so I just kept slamming the wood into the ground until the blade finally split through it.

I sit there, basking in the blood of my kill, when I see that Cheza has already finished her ten.

"I win! I killed my ten first!" Cheza exclaims.

"Yes, but I do believe you said that we were to 'split them down the middle,' and since I'm the only one who did that, I believe the win goes to me," I reply as I disengage my helmet.

"No, this is totally my win!" Cheza argues.

"Judge's ruling?" I ask to Maria and her bodyguard. The bodyguard looks completely shell-shocked so I doubt she will be of any help.

"I'm not sure what you are referring to, but Cole does have a point. In a contest that involves splitting down the middle, Cole is clearly the victor," Maria replies.

"Whatever..." Cheza pouts. She looks too damn cute when she does that... which reminds me, we need to finish up and get back to someplace private.

"Anyway, saving you isn't the actual reason for our visit today. We have to go fetch Jason, Reyna, and Natasha. Will you guys be okay here?" I ask.

"Yes, we will be fine," Maria says.

"We'll be right back," I reply.

Cheza and I make our way back through the courtyard, past all the carnage, and back to where Jason, Reyna, and Natasha are waiting, amongst three dead vampires.

"What happened?" I inquire.

"Just some cocky young vampires that thought they could take me on," Jason smugly answers.

"Well, nice work. Come on, Maria is in the back room," I inform them.

We all head back inside the house, down the hall, and out onto the patio. We walk around the left side of the courtyard when the French maid steps out of the doorway that leads to the dining hall. She stumbles slightly and leans on the doorway for support.

"Hey, you shouldn't be up yet. You lost quite a bit of blood," I tell her as I hold her steady with my hand on her elbow.

"Thank you, but I'll be alright. Is the Queen safe?" the maid questions.

"She's just fine, Babette," Reyna replies.

"It's nice to see that you are safe, Duchess... and you're pregnant!" Babette exclaims excitedly.

"How did you know?" Reyna coyly asks.

"Duchess, I have been looking after you for two decades. How would I not notice? This is such great news with how rare azeman pregnancies are. Your mother tried for nearly fifty years to have you. And you're engaged too! Does the Queen know yet?" Babette inquires.

"We're on our way to tell her now..." Reyna quietly replies.

"Well I'm sure she will be ecstatic! Go on, I'll be fine," Babette says while waving us away.

We continue around the courtyard, enter through the back doors, and make our way to the double doors just in time to see Maria bring a sword through the Count's neck.

"Did you get the information you needed?" I ask as Maria licks blood off of her hand.

"Why yes, I did," Maria replies as I pick up the empty magazine that I ejected earlier.

"Mother, we have something to tell you," Reyna says, keeping her composure.

"You're engaged, congratulations," Maria says in a cool manner.

"How did you know?" Reyna asks.

"It is called situational awareness. The rock on your left hand is difficult to miss," Maria replies.

"Did you also know that I'm pregnant?" Reyna asks. The sword falls from Maria's hand and clatters on the tile floor.

"Really? I'm going to be a grandmother!?" Maria exclaims, losing her composure.

"Uh-huh," Reyna nods. Maria swiftly steps forward and embraces her daughter.

"This is really touching and all, but I've got a problem to take care of so Cheza and I will just be porting back to Niflheim now," I announce.

"I'm coming too," Natasha thinks.

"Fine," I reply.

Natasha and Cheza grab my arm and I touch my Haglaz rune. We appear in Jason's (Cheza's and my) room to find Ryuji and Naia waiting for us.

"Hey, how did things go?" Ryuji asks.

"Good. We thwarted the assassination plot and Reyna told her mother the good news. Anyway, I should port you back now," I tell them quickly, wanting to get them out of the way as soon as possible so Cheza and I can help wash the blood off of each other.

"Alright," Ryuji replies.

He and Naia grab my arm while I touch my Haglaz again, porting us to the tech lab.

"Thanks, and thanks for your help last night, Cole. I probably wouldn't have made it through that without your help," Ryuji says.

"Don't mention it. I have to get going now so I'll see you later. Just give me a call if you need anything," I quickly reply.

After waiting for the longest forty-five seconds of my life, I touch my Haglaz to port back to the room. I strip off my clothes and toss them on the floor, figuring that I can clean them later or ask the maids to, even though they usually do it without my asking.

"Cheza, shower," I say as I strip off my boxers and walk into the bathroom. Cheza peels out of her suit and follows me into the bathroom.

"I'll just be in the kitchen," Natasha awkwardly says and leaves the room.

Cheza and I hop into the shower and turn on the warm water. The blood washes out of her hair as I kiss her neck before making a trail of kisses down to the apex of her thighs. She runs her hands through my hair before entangling her fingers in it. Cheza moans slightly when I've hit the right spot and I feel her finish a few minutes later.

"Hurry up, Cole!" Cheza moans while turning away from me, pressing up against the glass wall, and sticking her ass out.

I obey her orders and slowly slide myself in. I repeatedly press her further into the glass for a few minutes before changing things up. I flip her over, lift her up, and press her back against the wall as she locks her legs around my waist. We stay like that until I feel her clench up, causing me to finish with her.

"Should we... continue this... on the bed?" Cheza asks with a sultry tone and heavy breathing.

"Or the couch... or the walls... or the floor... or next to the TV... just a few suggestions," I tell her.

Cheza smiles and gives me a quick kiss before turning off the shower. We exit the shower and towel each other off before making our way into the bedroom. Cheza walks over to the couch and bends over, leaning on the arm rest. She looks back over her shoulder at me with a sort of 'come hither' look. My 'little head' is about to go spelunking when I'm interrupted.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we have a situation," Saraswati says after porting into Jason's room.

Chapter 9: Meeting with the Shinto Pantheon and a _Familiar_ Face

Cheza and I get dressed in our respective jeans and t-shirts before I ask, "What situation?"

"It seems that you've ruffled the feathers of several pantheons with the stunt you pulled involving the Slavic pantheon. The Shinto pantheon is calling a meeting to decide what to do about you. Since I'm Benzaiten in Japanese Buddhism, I've been invited and I figured that you'd want to make your case," Saraswati says while wearing a business casual skirt and blouse.

"Wasn't the Shinto pantheon sided with Loki?" I ask.

"Yes, but in reality, only slightly over half of the gods in the Shinto pantheon agreed with that decision," Saraswati replies.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to go to the meeting..." I comment.

"I think that sounds like a terrible idea!" Natasha exclaims as she barges into the room.

"Remember what happened the last time you went to a meeting with gods?" Natasha reminds me of the incident with the Polynesian pantheon.

"I'm not going to kill anyone this time! Especially when this is meeting about me killing gods. Killing gods at a meeting about me killing gods would be counterproductive," I reply.

"Fair enough, but I still don't think it's safe. What are you going to do if the entire pantheon turns on you? Do you really think you can fight your way through a Category 4 pantheon?" Natasha asks with concern.

"Natasha, I appreciate your concern, but I'll be fine. I can port out if things get too rough," I gently tell her.

"You still aren't going without me," Cheza says.

"I had a feeling you would say that..." I reply.

"Cole, you aren't going to talk me out of going," Cheza responds.

"You also won't talk me out of going," Natasha adds.

"Cheza, Natasha..." I start to argue.

"Relax! Everyone, relax. While I may not have to worry about tearing a hole in the fabric of the world by visiting earth like my brother, I still have enough power to port everyone out should things become frantic, even if we are separated," Saraswati interrupts.

"Well, I guess that settles it. So where are we going?" Cheza asks.

"The meeting will take place in a space that is connected to the Kaguraden at the Ise Grand Shrine in Japan. The meeting is supposed to start in half an hour," Saraswati replies.

"I suppose we'd better get going then," I say begrudgingly.

I look at my blood stained jacket on the floor and decide that I'm probably better off not wearing it. Cheza and Natasha each grab one of my hands as Saraswati places her hand on my shoulder. Gravel crunches beneath my feet as we land in front of a building that I assume is the Kaguraden. It looks like a wooden temple with a sweeping black roof and gold leafing in some areas.

A man in white robes approaches us and says something to us. I speak terrible Japanese, but I know 'kami-sama' is god so I think it's safe to assume Saraswati is the one being addressed. Saraswati replies in Japanese and I realize that everyone will most likely be speaking Japanese in this meeting. Now I have to rely on Saraswati and my own reading of the crowd for hostilities... great.

(I can assist in that matter, Master... or would you prefer Goshujin-sama given the circumstances?)

"Master is fine, Airi. How can you assist with my knowledge of Japanese?"

I feel my helmet slip out from the lotus on the back of my neck, but instead of enveloping my entire head, it only covers my right ear.

"Please, this way, Goddess," the white-robed man says with a bow and a gesture toward the building, but his words aren't matching up with the movement of his lips. Okay, this is pretty freaky.

"This way," Saraswati says and walks toward the building.

Natasha, Cheza, and I follow up the wooden steps into the temple. The white-robed man motions to two younger men in white robes and they slide open the two Shoji paper doors of a partition. We continue down a hallway with wooden floors and I see something that causes my breath to catch in my throat: Addie skirts around the corner at the other end of the hall.

No, she's not really there... she can't be...

"Cole?" Cheza thinks as she grips my left hand.

"It's fine," I reply while trying to smile.

"Cole, why is your helmet on your right ear?" Cheza inquires with mild alarm.

"The helmet is translating the Japanese. I'll have Airi hook you up to my hearing once the meeting starts, and Natasha too, if she's able," I inform her.

"Well you might want to make it smaller. It's fairly obtrusive," Cheza points out. I reach up and realize that it feels like I'm wearing headphones.

"Airi, can we shrink this down to earbud size?"

(Yes Master, so long as you have no problems with me penetrating you)

"In this situation, I don't mind," I reply and the headphone changes to an earbud as the silver liquid fills up my ear. There's some discomfort at first, but I get used to it quickly.

(Aw yeah... you like that, don't you, bitch!?)

"Ease it back there, Airi."

(...Yes, Master)

The white-robed man opens another Shoji paper door that leads to a large room with tatami mats for flooring. There are personal sized black dining tables and matching seat cushions in a row on each side of the room, leading up to larger black table at the head of the room. Behind the large black table, against the wall of the room, is a pedestal with a mirror displayed on it.

Natasha, Cheza, and I follow Saraswati into the room as the white-robed man closes the door behind us. I feel the plane shift beneath my feet in a similar fashion as to when I would go to the fight club's freshman training room via the cabin in the woods. The room hasn't changed, but all of the black tables now have food on them and there are roughly twenty gods in the room, all dressed in traditional kimonos. Sitting at the head table are a man, a woman, and an androgynous god that all have long black hair and are dressed in slightly nicer kimonos than their fellow gods. I feel insanely underdressed as Saraswati takes a seat on the left side of the room, leaving the three of us to follow suit.

"Now that Benzaiten is here, can we get this started now, Amaterasu?" a man wearing a white and blue kimono on the left side of the large table asks while pouring clear liquid from a bottle into a sake cup.

Amaterasu is the goddess of the sun in Shinto lore and was also tied to the Emperor of Japan. I believe she might be the lead head of the Shinto pantheon, but I don't remember Sara mentioning her as such.

"Yes brother Susanoo, we can," the woman wearing a golden-yellow kimono in the center of the head table replies as I remember Susanoo being the god of the sea and storms in the Shinto pantheon.

I see Natasha and Cheza looking lost out of the corner of my eye.

"Airi, can you connect both of them to my hearing?"

(It shall be done, Master)

"This meeting is to discuss what action, if any, we should take against Feros in light of the fate of the Slavic pantheon two weeks ago," Amaterasu announces. I see Cheza and Natasha flinch once when they hear the English translation, but they don't freak out.

"I say we take him out," one god suggests.

"Now, now, is violence really necessary? We could simply threaten him. I heard that he has a daughter. We could always give the implication that we would harm her if he threatens us," a goddess suggests.

"That's no good. His daughter was killed three weeks ago. I heard that her death was the reason he killed Horus. Have you seen the photographs of Horus's body? I don't know how Feros did it, but Horus's torso is a husk. It isn't decaying, it's just frozen in a state of horror. Whatever Feros did to him, I don't wish to know so I say that we just avoid him. He has no cause to come after us anyway," a god proclaims.

"He had no cause to go after the Slavic pantheon either besides their connection to Loki," another god suggests. There are murmurs of agreement from the room when the androgynous god speaks up.

"I do not believe we have reason to fear him. Yui, can you come in here please?" the androgynous god asks in a pitch that gives me zero clues as to his/her sex.

A partition along the right wall slides open and a fox-girl walks into the room, the same fox-girl that I saved from Templars in the park in Tempe back in September.

"Please recant the events that took place in the park this last September, Yui," the androgynous god kindly orders.

"Yes, Lord Inari," Yui says with a bow before turning to address the room. So the androgynous god is Inari, god of industry, rice, fertility, and of course, foxes.

"Two months ago, I was delivering a message for my Lord Inari when I was surrounded by a group of humans. Something about these humans smelled wrong and their movements seemed indicative of supernaturals, but I am certain they were human. They held me at gunpoint and as they were about to execute me, a young man ran towards them, shouting for them to leave me alone. They opened fire on him as he ran around them, giving me the opportunity to release a blast of fire, distracting them enough for the young man to eliminate the humans. That young man turned out to be Feros, and he helped me for no reason other than the fact that I needed help," Yui finishes, getting several murmurs of disbelief.

"If you don't believe me, you can ask him yourself," Yui adds while gesturing to me.

All of the gods in the room turn their attention towards me so I stand up to address them.

"Konichi wa... uh... onamae wa Feros desu... eiga hanashimasu... ka?" I struggle to say and then I hear that I made a mistake. It is a little strange having my own terrible Japanese translated back to me, but it was useful in this case.

What I meant to say was something along the lines of "Good afternoon, my name is Feros. Do you speak English?" but what I said was something like "Good afternoon, my name is Feros. Movie speak...?"

"Shimatta... ee, eigo hanashimasuka?" I ask, which translates to 'Damn... uh, do you speak English?' so I guess I got it right this time.

"Yes, Treyfair-san. Everyone can speak English," Yui replies.

"Ah, thank you Yui. As you all can no doubt tell by now, Japanese is not my forte," I announce.

"Enough! Why are you here, Feros?" Amaterasu demands.

"Well, my aunt told me that you were having a meeting about me in regards to what happened to the Slavic pantheon so I figured that I would come explain myself," I inform her.

"You may explain your actions," Amaterasu replies.

"Thank you, your highness. Well, to set the stage, I had just informed my fiancée, Chezarei, of some information that I thought might have destroyed our relationship. While obsessing over this, I decided to take a walk through the forests near Lake Baikal. Veles approached me in the forest and offered me something that I thought might help repair the relationship between Chezarei and I in exchange for helping him get his wife back from Perun. Veles wanted help, I wanted Chezarei to stay. It was a win-win. When we got to the top of the Great Oak and confronted Perun, I discovered that Veles had lied and what he had promised me was completely unattainable. This obviously made me quite angry and I sort of lose control when I'm angry. In my defense, I'm almost certain that if someone had told me that killing all the heads of a pantheon results in its destruction, then I never would have done such a thing," I finish.

"Yui Onee-chan, look what I found!" Addie yells as she runs into the room, holding a rhinoceros beetle. Her tail is wagging excitedly through a hole in her kimono as she runs over to Yui's position behind Inari.

"Chiho! I told you not to come in here under any circumstances!" Yui scolds in Japanese.

I blink several times and my image of Addie disappears, leaving behind a young kitsune with orange ears sticking out of her head and a bushy orange tail. Two tears stream from my eyes in response to my crushed illusion.

"Cole, are you alright?" Saraswati asks.

"I'm sorry... but I have to go," I quietly respond and rush out of the room the way I came.

The earbud retracts from my right ear as I run back down the hall, making my way outside where I sit down on the steps and bury my face in my hands.

I'm so stupid... I have to accept the fact that she's gone and can't come back... I have to stop letting my mind play tricks on me, but I can't... I just can't...

"Treyfair-san? I apologize for my younger sister's interruption," Yui says. I look over my shoulder to see her hanging her head apologetically while holding onto her sister's arm.

"Kora!" Yui says and lightly smacks her sister's shoulder.

"Sumimasen," Chiho apologizes.

"It isn't her fault... when she rushed into the room... all I saw was my daughter... heh, despite the fact that they look nothing alike," I quietly reply.

"The one that was killed?" Yui questions.

"Yes... even though the part of me that cried out for vengeance has been silenced, it hasn't lessened my grief..." I tell her and Yui giggles in response.

"Sorry! I don't find that to be funny at all, it's just—" Yui starts, looking horrified by her response.

"Don't worry, I understand. Quite a few Asian cultures handle awkward situations with giggling. I won't take offence to it," I quietly interrupt.

"Cole, are you ready to leave? Everything has already been smoothed over with the Shinto pantheon," Cheza thinks.

"Yeah... I'll meet you guys back in Niflheim," I reply.

"I need to get going," I tell Yui as I stand up.

"Okay, here," Yui says while handing me a slip of paper that includes a phone number and email address. "The next time you're in Japan, give me a call. We can go get drinks or something."

"Sure. Here," I say as I pull out my phone and dial the number. "Now you have my number too. Feel free to call if you need anything."

"Thank you, Treyfair-san," Yui replies.

"Before I go, I have to ask, what did you mean about what you said before you disappeared in the park? About the yatagarasu?" I ask.

"You have a particular energy about you that I've only ever felt in Lady Benzaiten and other members of the Buddhist pantheon. I was simply implying that you had the energy of a god in you," Yui explains.

"Hmm... well, see you around," I reply and touch my Haglaz rune.

Back in Jason's room, I kick off my shoes and flop onto the bed, face down.

"Cole? Are you okay?" Cheza gently asks.

"Not really..." I reply. I feel Cheza climb into bed with me and lie into my side.

"I'm here for you if you want to talk about it," Cheza whispers.

"Thanks Cheza," I reply.

"I'm here for you too, Cole," Natasha says as she crawls into bed on my other side.

"Thank you both," I whisper as I drift off to sleep.

****

Chapter 10: Lord Motherfucking Byron

I wake up to find myself back at the temple. I walk down a corridor and see a bushy silver tail disappear around a corner at the far end of the hall. I rush down the hall and follow after her, only to see her disappear around the corner at the opposite end of the hall.

"Addie!" I call out to her as I continue to chase her.

The chase lasts for what feels like hours, when I finally turn around a corner to a dead end. Addie is just standing there with her back to me, facing the wall.

"Addie?" I ask as I slowly approach her.

"Come on, Addie. Let's go home," I say as I reach out.

As I set my hand on her shoulder, her body turns to smoke and blows away, leaving me alone in the corridor.

****

[November 2nd]

Two weeks without an Addie related dream isn't a bad run, I guess... Upon seeing that it is only 7am, I slide up towards the headboard and leap over Cheza to get out of bed without waking either her or Natasha. I make my way to the kitchen where I hear laughter. I round the corner to find Hel and Maria chatting at the table.

"Good morning, Cole. Did you sleep well?" Maria asks as I pour a cup of coffee.

"Not really. What are you two doing?" I inquire.

"We're planning for the wedding before the planners come. So I guess this is technically preliminary planning to decide what we want the planners to plan," Hel responds.

"That's not confusing or anything," I mumble while sipping my coffee.

"Well, it's bound to be confusing. This is a royal wedding after all. There will be on the upside of two thousand guests in attendance," Maria says.

"Holy shit! Why are there going to be so many people?" I ask.

"Well, there's the family and friends, key players in the vampire hierarchy, and certain Underworld citizens are going to be invited, as well as multiple gods from various pantheons. With their plus ones, attendants, and/or bodyguards, there will be roughly two thousand people attending this wedding. And then the ceremony will be broadcast throughout the Underworld for those that can't attend," Hel explains.

"So has a date been set yet?" I inquire.

"We are currently planning on having the wedding on November 25th," Maria replies.

"Why so soon?" I question.

"With a bastard child on the way, the sooner Jason and Reyna get married, the better," Maria explains.

"Yes, I suppose that makes sense," I reply and finish my cup of coffee.

"Hey bro. How did your meeting with the Shinto pantheon go?" Jason inquires as he walks into the kitchen.

"Well, things are smoothed over... for now at least," I tell him.

"Cool. Say, can you come with me to settle a dispute as part of my princely duties?" Jason asks as he pours coffee into a mug.

"Sure, it's not like I have anything else planned anyway," I reply.

"Good. We still have a few hours to kill before we have to be there so I'm going to go take a shower," Jason replies.

"Okay, I'll go do the same," I say and head back to the bedroom.

Cheza and Natasha are still asleep so I quietly grab some of my clothes from the dresser, spotting a clean jacket neatly folded on top of the dresser, and head into the bathroom. After my shower, I return to the kitchen to make bacon and waffles. The girls wake up at about 8:30am and groggily walk into the kitchen.

"Waffles?" I ask. The girls nod sleepily and take their seats at the table.

"I'm going to help Jason out with some errands in a couple of hours," I inform them as I serve them breakfast.

"Okay... we'll stay here and talk about wedding stuff with Reyna," Cheza answers.

I sit down and join them with my breakfast. After breakfast, I return to the room to read for an hour until Jason knocks on the bedroom door.

"Ready to go?" Jason asks, dressed like a billionaire playboy, i.e. an expensive Italian suit without a tie and several buttons of his shirt undone.

"Yeah, let's get going," I say as I pull on my jacket.

Jason grabs my shoulder and black mist swirls around us. We land on a street corner, the dark blue sky indicating that we're still in Niflheim. We enter what appears to be a butcher's shop, where two men are arguing.

"Martin, Antonio. I'm glad you both could join me," Jason addresses.

"What is the meaning of this Prince Jason?" one man addresses.

"Well Martin, as you both know, I've done business with the two of you for quite some time. You've always had amicable dispositions towards each other, so imagine my surprise when I hear that you two are engaged in a turf war that has already killed three civilians," Jason says.

"Who is that?" the other man, Antonio, asks.

"This is my friend Cole Treyfair—" Jason starts.

"FEROS!?" Martin exclaims as both men start visibly freaking out.

"We would both appreciate it if you could handle your shit and come to a peaceful agreement," Jason says with a light amount of venom.

"We understand, Prince Jason! We shall split the territory equally and end the war immediately! Don't you agree, Martin?" Antonio nervously replies.

"Yes! That sounds entirely agreeable!" Martin quickly adds.

"Glad you two can see eye to eye! Now keep that up so _we_ don't have to come back down here," Jason says with a smile and walks out of the shop as I follow.

"Let's go get some lunch. I need to talk to you about something," Jason says.

"Did you bring me along just so you could use my name to scare your old drug dealers into submission?" I ask.

"No, I just told you I have something that I need to talk to you about!" Jason replies.

Jason grabs my shoulder and black mist envelopes us again as we port someplace else that is also in Nifleheim. He walks up a set of white stone steps and into a fancy restaurant.

"Ah, Prince Jason! Would you like your usual table?" a maître de asks.

"That would be perfect, Benoit. Thank you," Jason replies.

The maître de grabs two menus and we follow him to a booth in the back. We begin flipping through the menus when a chef comes over to the table.

"Welcome back Prince Jason, and as I've heard, congratulations on your engagement!" the chef exclaims.

"Thank you, Pierre. I think we'll go with the salmon today," Jason politely replies.

"Of course, Prince Jason. I'll have it out post haste," the chef says and retreats to the kitchen.

"Their salmon here is amazing," Jason says by way of explanation for ordering on my behalf.

"So what did you need to talk to me about?" I ask.

"Ahem... Cole, will you be my best man?" Jason asks.

"Was it not already implied that I was going to be?" I reply.

"I thought so too, but Reyna insisted that I make a show of it," Jason says.

"Well, this outing did help me realize exactly how much weight my name carries in the supernatural community, so it wasn't a complete waste," I respond.

Now I have to go about planning a kickass bachelor party... in less than a month. We get our meal and I learn that Jason wasn't exaggerating: the salmon is amazing.

"So, when are you and Rei getting married?" Jason inquires during our meal.

"I'm not sure yet, but I think you might have just offered a solution to my name problem... Anyway, I think we'll end up having a small wedding sometime soon, at which, you will be my best man, of course," I tell him.

"But of course!" Jason exclaims.

We finish our meal and head to the front of the restaurant. Jason pulls out his wallet to pay, but the maître de stops him.

"This one is on us, Prince Jason, as an engagement present," Benoit says.

"Why thank you, Benoit! Give Pierre my gratitude as well and tell him that the salmon was excellent, as always," Jason requests.

"I can do that. Have a good day, Prince Jason, and congratulations on your engagement once again," Benoit replies.

"Thank you, Benoit. See you around," Jason responds, grabs, my shoulder, and ports us back to the palace.

"Huh... that's strange. I don't think mother was expecting visitors," Jason absentmindedly says as he walks out of the bedroom.

I grab my holster and throw it on, not liking the implications of Jason's statement, before catching up with him. I follow him down the hall, past the meeting room, and into a sitting room with black leather furniture that I've only passed through, maybe twice. Sitting on the couch, talking to Maria and Hel with his back facing us, is a vampire with short, curly, brown hair and an Oxford accent.

"I have already eliminated the other Counts and Countesses that were at your dinner party and thus, had a motive to wish you harm. However, as my way of saying sorry for allowing something like this to happen on my watch, I would like to plan your son-in-law's bachelor party. Oh, speak of the devil," the man says as he turns around.

The man has a pale complexion (as to be somewhat expected with a vampire) regal facial structure, and a cleft chin. He looks familiar, but I can't place where I've seen him...

"Jason, Cole, this is King Byron, King of the Vampires," Maria introduces.

"Holy shit! Your Lord Byron! Lord motherfucking Byron!" I exclaim.

"Who's Lord Byron?" Jason asks.

"He was an English poet in the seventeenth century. He is often accredited with authoring The Vampyre, a short story about an aristocratic vampire that set the precedent for vampires being portrayed as suave hunters instead of as monsters. He also kept a menagerie of exotic pets and kept a bear as a pet during his college days after the school wouldn't let him keep a dog. They had to allow a bear because their rules were worded in such a way that never forbade them," I explain.

"To be fair, The Vampyre short story was authored by a friend of mine, it just happens to be based on me. Ironically, that was before I was turned into a vampire in Greece. Prince Jason, it is a pleasure to meet you," Byron says while standing up, walking around the couch, and holding out his right hand. I notice that he's only about 5'9" or so and that he has a certain pomp to his step. Rather than correct him, Jason just steps in front of me and shakes his hand.

"Likewise, King Byron," Jason says.

"Yes, well, as I was saying, by way of apology, I would like to host your bachelor party," Byron says.

"I believe that can be arranged and I'm sure my best man, Cole Treyfair, would be happy for the assistance," Jason replies in a not so subtle name drop.

"Ah, so you are the notorious Feros!" Byron exclaims without a hint of fear.

"Yes, but don't hold it against me," I reply.

"I'll try not to haha!" Byron laughs.

"Well my number is... can you remember it?" I ask.

"Quite. I'll give you a call when I have a free moment. Now, I really must be going. I have a meeting to get to in San Francisco. Good bye," Byron says and exits the room, taking a left towards the front door, which I just realized that I've never used.

"So that was interesting... how did he know you were here, Maria?" I inquire.

"He did not say..." Maria thoughtfully replies.

"What are the chances that his offer to set up the bachelor party is a trap?" I question.

"Slim to none. King Byron is not stupid and he would not set up something so blatantly obvious. He also isn't suicidal enough to try something with the infamous Feros around," Maria says with a sly smile.

"If you say so... where are the girls?" I ask.

"I believe they are in Reyna's quarters," Hel replies.

"Thanks," I say while Jason and I head for Reyna's room. As we are walking down the hall, my phone starts ringing.

"Hello?" I answer, seeing that it's from Ryuji.

"Cole, I need your advice. Naia and I are planning on having sex for the first time tonight and I'm sort of new to this whole thing. What do I do if she's on her period?" Ryuji asks.

"The only thing you can do: say nothing, dip your pen in the ink well, and hope it comes out clean. Pretty much the same rules apply for anal," I reply.

"Alright," Ryuji says.

"Is that Ryuji? Ask him if he wants to be a... a... what the hell do they call the guys that stand behind the best man?" Jason asks.

"I believe they're called groomsmen. Ryuji, Jason is asking if you can be a groomsman because he has no other guy friends," I say into my phone.

"Hey!" Jason objects.

"Yeah, I'd be honored. Reyna actually just asked Naia if she could be a bridesmaid so this works out," Ryuji says.

"He said yes," I tell Jason.

"Cool. He's coming to the bachelor party, right?" Jason asks.

"Jason wants to know if you'll be coming to the bachelor party. _The_ Lord Byron will be helping me plan it, and by helping me, I mean he'll be doing most of the planning because I've never even been to a bachelor party," I relay to Ryuji.

"Of course I'll be there... how is Lord Byron planning the party? Didn't he die nearly two centuries ago?" Ryuji asks.

"It appears not. He's actually the Vampire King," I reply.

"Wow," Ryuji says.

"Yeah. Well, you and Naia have fun tonight. Make sure you're gentle with her. She hasn't had sex since... never mind, it's not my place to say," I respond, realizing that I already fucked up by revealing that much.

"What!? She told me she was a virgin! She's not!?" Ryuji frantically asks, seriously freaking out.

"Listen to me carefully, Ryuji. I never told you any of this and you sure as hell don't know any of this, got it?" I ask.

"Yeah, I got it," Ryuji replies.

"*Sigh*... When I knocked Naia out to verify some information after Addie's death, I saw the majority of her life. The only person I saw her have sex with was Horus, and she was less than willing, if you know what I mean. She was also only about fifteen years old," I tell him.

"Shit... Cole, what do I do?" Ryuji desperately asks.

"Be gentle, be compassionate, and if she starts crying, be understanding. And finally, remember that foreplay is mandatory. Don't be an asswipe. The only time when you can throw foreplay out the window is when you are screwing in a public place and the cops are most likely coming, if you just killed someone and the cops are most likely coming, if you are on the lam and the cops are most likely coming, or if she says 'quit dicking around and get in here already!' and/ or the cops are most likely coming. Really, foreplay can be neglected in any situation where you are being pursued by the law or following her orders," I tell Ryuji.

"pursued by the law or following her orders," Ryuji mumbles.

"Are you taking fucking notes!?" I incredulously ask.

"Well, yeah... I figured this kind of called for it," Ryuji replies.

"Called for leaving a paper trail consisting of a stenographed transcript for information that I specifically told you that you don't know and I never told you? You would make the worst criminal ever," I tell him.

"Yeah, you're probably right..." Ryuji admits.

"Anyway, just remember the first four things I said and you should be fine," I reply.

"Thanks Cole! Let me know when the party is so I can make arrangements," Ryuji says.

"Okay, talk to you later. Oh, and if you don't already know, her tail is really sensitive. Good luck!" I exclaim and hang up.

Jason and I walk into Reyna's room as Natasha hangs up her phone.

"How does your phone work down here?" I inquire.

"Gift from Carla given your proclivities to visit other planes. She wanted to make sure I could be reached no matter where I was. Speaking of which, there's an assignment that I could really use your help on," Natasha says.

"Doesn't she know that I'm technically still on vacation?" I rhetorically ask.

"She does, but she figured you'd be interested in any case involving the Templars," Natasha answers.

...

Chapter 11: Let's Hear it for New York

[November 3rd]

I hear Natasha sniffle to my left as I look through a spotter's scope from the rooftop of a hotel in New York.

"We've been up here for two hours and haven't seen anything," I complain.

"Patience. Counter sniping isn't a quick task," Natasha replies from her relaxed position next to me, staring up at the sky with her suppressed M110 sniper rifle set up next to her on a bipod against the guard wall of the roof.

"That's easy for you to say. You haven't been the one staring through a scope for two hours," I say.

"I have to let my eyes rest. That's why you're the spotter," Natasha responds.

"Despite having no training as a spotter whatsoever. I don't know... something about this just doesn't feel right," I tell her.

"You're too paranoid, Cole. This mission is fairly routine. All we have to do is find and eliminate the Templar sniper before he kills the Russian President," Natasha replies.

"Yes, but why are they targeting the Russian President?" I ask.

"Presumably to put someone less badass in power. We still don't know what the Templars' main objective is, but having control over Russia would most likely further their goals," Natasha says.

"I don't know... it just doesn't add up to me. Before now, the Templars have only targeted supernaturals. Why would they go after the Russian President? As much of a badass as he is, he's still human... Natasha, how well known are your skills as a counter sniper?" I inquire.

"Well, I did place the top score on The Agency's exam and I've had roughly a dozen successful missions before this. Honestly, I probably could have done this without your assistance, but I usually have a close-quarters operator in case things get messy," Natasha answers.

"So there's a decent chance that anyone with inside information would know that you would be handed a high profile assignment like this one? After all, the Russian President's assassination on US soil would not make our government look good," I suggest.

"Yes, there is a decent chance that someone would guess that," Natasha thoughtfully says.

"How did The Agency hear about this assassination?" I ask.

"Through a bug that was placed in the office of a known Templar..." Natasha replies.

"And how well known is our relationship?" I question.

"Pretty damn well known..." Natasha responds.

"And since our relationship is well known, any attempt to get at you is an attempt at me, and we both know how badly the Templars want me," I reply.

"Are you saying this is a set up?" Natasha asks.

"Yeah," I say.

Natasha suddenly tenses up and starts shaking slightly while breathing heavily.

"Cole! We need to leave, like now!" Natasha exclaims.

"It's a little too late for that," I reply as I see a Predator drone fly around the side of a skyscraper, headed straight for us.

"Cole, we can still port out of here!" Natasha says as the Predator drone launches a missile at us.

What in the hell are they doing!? We're standing on top of a civilian hotel building and they're just going to blow up the whole building to get at us!? There have to be at least three hundred innocent people in a hotel of this size! I have to stop that missile.

(Devour it)

"Natasha, take cover," I calmly tell her as my arm turns black and I get that bizarre feeling in my eyes.

I engage my helmet and stand in the path of the missile. The missile is coming in fast as I hold my left arm up. When the missile is about twenty feet away, a tendril shoots out of my palm and connects with the missile. The missile loses substance, turning into black smoke that hits me due to its momentum before dispersing.

Now it's time to take out the Templar's toy. The Predator drone comes in hot and opens fire with dual .50 caliber machine guns. Not seeing another way to do this, I stand in the path of the bullets. The majority of the bullets miss, but I still get hit in my right shoulder, stomach, and a grazing shot to my armored left leg that takes out a large chunk of my thigh. As the drone is passing by, I leap into the air with most of my weight on my right leg while hold my left arm out. Three tendrils shoot out of my arm and hit the drone in different places, covering the majority of the plane as it disappears in large circles. However, the three large chunks taken out the drone don't cover the entire tail or wings, which continue their flight path like giant bullets.

A chunk of wing smacks me in the stomach, driving the .50 caliber bullet deeper into my torso. I fly back and land on the far edge of the roof with most of my weight on my left leg, tearing the small amount of remaining muscle that was allowing me to even stand.

"Cole! Are you okay!?" Natasha asks with concern as she runs over to my seated position against the guard wall of the roof.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I reply as I shove the wing off of me.

I hope no one else was injured by the flying pieces of scrap metal. Natasha suddenly tenses up. Uh-oh, that can't be good.

"Stairs!" Natasha exclaims.

Shit! I'm in no shape to do any fighting. Natasha takes one look at me and her eyes narrow, realizing that I can't fight them off. She quickly takes a small black tube out of her cleavage and flicks a cap off—an epi-pen? Natasha unzips her suit a little further and stabs the pen into the left side of her neck. Her outer aura suddenly turns into a silver-red mixture and Natasha rushes over to her M110 faster than what should be possible for her. She snatches the rifle up as the steel door that leads to the stairs is kicked open. Natasha turns and fires three times. I hear the thud of three bodies hitting the ground in quick succession. Suddenly a bullet strikes my left arm and becomes compacted before dropping to the rooftop.

(Sniper, 12 o'clock)

"Natasha, sniper on a rooftop, building's twelve," I think to her.

Natasha turns, looks through the scope, and quickly fires twice. I look right and see a body fall over the edge of the adjacent building, plummeting towards the street. A metal tube lands at Natasha's heels. She quickly turns and kicks it back into the stairwell before diving behind the steel door and slamming it shut. I hear the concussion grenade go off, probably killing whoever was in the stairwell due to the enclosed space and close quarters.

(Sniper aiming at Natasha, 7 o'clock)

"Tasha, building's seven! Move!" I hastily think.

Natasha throws the steel door open as a bullet thuds right where her head was. She pops around the corner, looks through the scope, and fires twice. She goes back around the door and fires three more times. I listen as the bodies drop in the stairwell, but now Natasha is out of ammo and we didn't bring any spare magazines. I bend forward painfully, feeling the inch and a half of metal digging deeper into my stomach, and reach behind me, grabbing my 10mm auto and the suppressor. I quickly screw the suppressor on with my left hand.

"Tasha! Catch!" I think as I hurl the gun at her. She drops her M110 and catches my gun in her right hand.

"Since you can use my armored plating, you should at least be able to fire my 10mm auto. It's loaded with JHP rounds so go for flesh shots!" I think to her and she nods in response.

Natasha jumps six feet, effortlessly pulls herself up onto the eight-foot roof of the stairwell, and waits for the next squad of enemies. I could help out with my .460 but the noise would certainly attract attention, although it's not like the guys with body armor and guns haven't already attracted enough attention. The steel door bursts open and five Templars with body armor, silenced MP7A1 submachine guns, and red auras step out.

"Let me see your hands!" a Templar orders. I hold up my hands.

"Where's the girl!?" another Templar shouts.

Natasha drops down from the stairwell rooftop and fires into the back of a Templar's neck before wrapping her arm around said neck, holding the body in front of her. The surprised Templars turn and open fire as Natasha sinks two to three rounds into the faces of each Templar.

"That... should be the... last of them," Natasha says while out of breath. Then she collapses to the rooftop, her aura fading back to white

"NATASHA!" I shout.

I drag myself the thirty feet over to her position. I quickly check her vitals and feel that her pulse is really weak. I cradle her on top of me, grab my gun, holster it, and touch my triskele.

"SARA!" I shout in the kitchen. Sara rushes in from her room.

"Cole!? What happened!?" Sara asks.

"Natasha and I were attacked. I was too injured to fight back so she used a thing that resembled an epi-pen to inject something into her neck. She had increased speed, strength, and reflexes, but when the fighting was done, she collapsed and now her pulse is really weak!" I quickly explain.

"Damn... What she injected was a special compound that I gave her and told her to use in case of emergencies," Sara replies as she kneels down to check Natasha.

"What?" I ask, perplexed.

"I helped The Agency develop a compound that would rival the enhancement virus, but the compound was modified to have a shorter life—it's not permanent. When injected, it feeds on the user's adrenaline in their bloodstream. Once the adrenaline runs out, the compound dissolves and the virus dies. This was put in place as a preventative to keep any corruption down to a minimum. While I was working on that compound, I made a special version for Natasha. This virus was further modified to work in correlation with your blood that is inside of her. It allows her to increase her strength and speed far more than the regular compound, in an effort to keep up with you and Rei," Sara explains.

"So why is she like this?" I ask.

"The toll of this compound is much higher than that of the normal compound. I ran three trials with ten rats each: five that had been injected with your blood, and five without. I injected the compound into all ten, and all ten died, or so I thought. Upon closer observation, the five that had your blood were still alive, but in a mild comatose state. Four woke up the next day, but the last one never did. The second trial yielded a one hundred percent survival rate for the rats injected with your blood, and a one hundred percent fatality rate for those without it. The third trial ended with a total of seven dead rats," Sara reports.

"So there's a twenty percent chance that she won't wake up!?" I shout.

"This is why I told her to only use it in case of extreme emergencies..." Sara quietly replies.

"I'm taking her back to Niflheim unless there's some reason she needs to be here?" I angrily ask and Sara shakes her head in response.

"You and Tia should probably go someplace and lay low for a few days. They sent a Predator drone after us this time and they were prepared to blow up an entire hotel building to get me," I inform her.

I lift Natasha up, keeping most of my weight on my right leg. While my left leg has healed enough for me to have it bear weight by using my blood to reinforce it, it's still painful to do so. I touch my Haglaz and port to Jason's room. I carry Natasha out of Jason's room, down the hall, past Reyna's room, and into the guest bedroom that she has been staying in.

"Cole! What happened!?" Cheza asks from the doorway as I set Natasha down on her bed.

"The mission was a set up for Natasha because of her association with me... I had to take out a Predator drone and was injured in the process. More enemies were coming and I couldn't fight back, so Natasha injected an experimental compound into her neck and killed them all... and now she's like this," I inform her as I grab a chair from the corner and pull it over to the side of Natasha's bed.

"Well we need to get her to Sara! Maybe she can do something!" Cheza replies.

"Who do you think gave her the compound?" I reply.

"Well, Natasha will be alright, won't she?" Cheza timidly asks.

"Yeah, she will," I say.

She'd better... I'm not losing someone else I care about due to my own incompetence... I refuse to.

"She'll be fine, Cole," Cheza whispers into my ear as she hugs me from behind and kisses my cheek.

I hear Natasha's phone ring from somewhere on her person, remembering where the injector was and realizing that her suit doesn't have pockets.

"Don't even think about it," Cheza sternly says and fishes the phone out of Natasha's cleavage before handing the phone to me.

"Natasha's phone," I answer.

"Cole? How are you guys doing?" Carla asks.

"Natasha is unconscious. Listen, the mission was a setup. You most likely have an agent that has turned," I tell her.

"I know. We just discovered him planting false intelligence in the system. I was calling to ask Natasha if she wanted to sit in on the interrogation," Carla says.

"Where?" I ask.

"Seattle's office," Carla replies.

"I'll be there in a few," I inform her.

"Cole, you will only be observing, do you understand?" Carla asks.

"Yeah... see you in a few," I reply and hang up.

"Cheza, can you watch after Natasha for me?" I ask as I set the phone on the bedside table.

"Of course, go," Cheza softly replies.

"Thanks," I say, give her a kiss goodbye, and run back to Jason's room.

I pull an inch and a half of metal out of my right shoulder before taking off my jacket. There's nothing that can be done about the bullet in my stomach at the moment anyway. I quickly change my shirt and pants so that I have some fresh, non-bullet-hole-ridden clothes on before touching my Haglaz.

"Hey Cole, long time no see," Carla greets when I appear in her office in Seattle.

"Yeah, it has been a while. How are things working out with the enhancements?" I ask as I follow her out of her office.

"With the compound that we now have access to, our operators can meet the criminal suspects on equal grounds so the fatality rates have dropped drastically. Incidents involving the enhancements have also dropped significantly and are still continuing to drop. I believe that you have really taken out the source this time," Carla reports as we step in the elevator and she presses the button marked -4.

"How are the operators handling the toll from the compound?" I inquire.

"We have them on rotational shifts so that no operator uses the compound more than once every three days. Did Natasha take some of the compound? Is that why she was unconscious?" Carla asks.

"Yeah, something like that," I reply.

It appears that Carla might not know about the special compound so I'm not going to say anything. The elevator doors ding open to a sterile white hallway, much like the armory. I follow Carla down the hallway and we enter a small room that is similar to the ones seen in nearly every police drama: the small room on the other side of the two-way mirror. We take a seat, causing pain to flash through my stomach as a reminder of the bullet that needs to be removed, and I look at the man that nearly helped assassinate Natasha. He is sitting at a steel table, but he is probably in the ballpark of six feet tall with light brown hair. If this were following the script for a cop drama, then I'd say that he's black or Hispanic, but he's not. He's pasty white, muscular, and is so full of shit that his eyes are brown.

"So how did you catch him?" I ask as I feel my left thigh knitting back together more quickly now that I'm resting and have stopped using my blood to reinforce my leg.

"When I was looking over the intelligence report from the bug, I felt that something was odd. I pushed it to the back of my mind and sent Natasha on the assignment, but it kept eating at me. When we got reports of a Predator drone in the area, I tried calling to warn you guys, but the call wouldn't connect so I went back through those reports and noticed what was wrong. The conversation about the plot was dated for the day before the Russian President had even made plans to come to the states. I was able to trace the error back through a blackmailed analyst to our culprit," Carla explains as the interrogator enters the room.

"How did the Templars get clearance for a Predator drone in a major metropolitan area?" I inquire.

"It seems like the Templars have some serious pull with the certain areas of the government..." Carla answers as the interrogation starts.

The interrogation goes on for about an hour with the culprit not giving anything up. It's not like the interrogator does a shit job, the culprit is just savvy to his tricks.

"Look, stow the threats. It's just getting old. I know that you can't touch me and I'm not saying shit!" the culprit says with a smug smile that makes me shake with anger. The interrogator stands up and exits the cell.

"Perhaps I should go talk to him," I suggest.

"Not a chance, Cole," Carla replies.

I glare at her for a few moments, but she doesn't budge so I formulate a really stupid plan.

"I need to use the bathroom," I announce.

"I'll show you where it is," Carla says and escorts me down the hall.

"Will this work, Airi?"

(I should be able to repair the damage more quickly this time, provided that you don't port again before I finish)

I enter the bathroom and touch my triskele. I already know that Carla is familiar with the time limitation and can feel it when I port, but she doesn't know that I can port within a one hundred meter distance. I appear in the interrogation cell with blood squirting from my mouth, startling the culprit. I think about jamming the door with a chair, but I don't think Carla knows I'm still in the building so she most likely won't sprint here, giving me about a minute.

"Not even the mighty Feros will get me to talk," the culprit confidently tells me.

"Hehe, that's cute," I chuckle.

"What?" the culprit nervously asks.

"The fact that you think I want or even need you to talk when my method is so much more fun!" I exclaim.

I launch myself at him, grabbing him by the face with my left hand as I continue towards the wall behind him and proceed to slam him into it. I feed my blood down his throat as I look into his horror stricken eyes. His eyes roll into the back of his head as he's rendered unconscious.

I throw up more blood as I lie down on the floor next to him. I have the forethought to roll onto my side before passing out. Don't want to go out like a bloody version of Hendrix, now do I?

****

I land in the culprit's subconscious and fly through his memories for information. Judging by the correspondence, I see that his Templar contact is named Michael Alejo, but there doesn't appear to be any face time. Oh well, this should be enough to work with.

****

Chapter 12: And so the Hunt begins

[November 4th]

I awaken in a completely unfamiliar bed that has sheets with a high thread count, probably around twelve hundred.

"Good morning, Cole. Come down to the kitchen when you're ready for breakfast," I hear Carla say.

I swing my legs over the edge of the bed, sending a stab of pain through my stomach as the bullet reminds me of its presence. I stand up unsteadily as the knowledge of the culprit's memories come rushing back to me. Exiting the room, I walk down a dark hallway until I emerge on a balcony level. There's a white railing bordering the balcony, over which lies a living room with a flat screen TV and a tan leather couch. The windows that line the back wall reveal a nice view of downtown Seattle. I head down the stairs on my right, pass through the living room, and walk down a hall, following my nose to the kitchen.

"Good morning, Carla!" I cheerfully say.

"Good morning!" Carla replies with a homicidal looking smile.

"Would you mind explaining how you got back into the building without me sensing it, why you killed our culprit before we could get any answers, and why there was blood everywhere?" Carla sternly asks.

So it looks like my hypothesis was correct—when porting within a hundred meters, my incoming port can't be sensed. Well, that explains why Perun and Veles were so surprised.

"Well, I wanted to kill him because I didn't like his smug attitude, but I did kill him because he was guilty. I search his mind before ending him and found that he was indeed working for the Templars. I'm planning on paying his contact in the Templars a visit, extracting information from said contact, and then moving my way up the chain of command until I have the identities of every Templar that wants me dead. Then, I will go about systematically executing them," I explain as I sit down at the table.

"Did you learn if there were any others working for The Agency?" Carla inquires as she sits across from me and slides a glass of orange juice over.

"As far as our man knew, he was the only one working for The Agency. I made sure to extract all his secrets before killing him. This isn't amateur hour after all," I reply and drink my juice.

"Still, you shouldn't have executed him. There are protocols that have to be followed," Carla states.

"Just blame it on Feros and I'm sure everything will work out fine. I need The Agency's resources to find an address on one Michael Alejo. I don't believe he's in the city," I tell her.

"Fine... I'll assign Ryuji to help you," Carla concedes.

"Alright, just have him call me. I have to go get some things before I pay Mr. Alejo a visit. Thanks for the OJ," I reply and touch my Haglaz.

I port to Niflheim and go in to check on Natasha.

"Cole! I'm glad you're okay!" Cheza exclaims as she hugs me.

"Has Natasha still not woken up yet?" I ask as I return the hug.

"No, she hasn't..." Cheza quietly replies. I walk over to Natasha's sleeping form and brush a strand of blonde hair out of her face.

"I'm going to get the guys responsible for this, Natasha. You just focus on waking up," I whisper to her.

"I have an assignment so I'm going to be gone for a little while. Can you keep watch over Natasha?" I ask.

"Yeah, sure, but what do I do about food and water? I can set up a saline drip, but I don't believe that the necessary materials are here and that won't solve the issue with nutrients," Cheza says and I think things over for a few moments.

"I'll bring Sara here with some supplies. I'll be back soon," I tell her.

I run back to Jason's room to grab my jacket and armored jeans before porting to the house.

"Sara, I'm taking you to Niflheim. Grab any medical supplies you need for a saline drip and possibly a feeding tube. Also, do you still have my old jacket lying around? It may be missing a sleeve, but at least it doesn't have any breaches in the armor," I say as I barge into Sara's room.

"I take it that Natasha hasn't woken up yet... yeah, I fixed your old jacket's sleeve and made it more like the new one with the same zipper system," Sara says while rummaging through her closet.

"Here. I also have a spare pair of armored jeans as well," Sara says, coming out of the closet with both.

"Thanks. Here's the bullet-hole ridden clothing. You can reuse most of the plates at the very least," I tell her.

"Alright. Give me a couple of minutes to get my stuff ready," Sara requests.

I nod and head to my room. I grab a pair of rather tight fitting black jeans that I own. These should work with my black leather jacket and at least I won't be wearing sweatpants... sweatpants being the only other black pants that I own. After I'm finished changing I head into the living room and plop down on the couch.

"So you're taking Sara to Niflheim?" Tia asks.

"Yeah. I figured you'd be safe here even if a Predator drone blew up the house," I tell her.

"Yeah, unless the missile hit me directly, I would be fine. I guess that some time apart would be good for us..." Tia says with her eyes glued on the TV. I'm about to ask what she means when Sara walks into the room holding a large plastic case with a red cross on it.

"Ready to go?" Sara asks while avoiding Tia.

"Sure... see you later, Tia," I say while eyeing the both of them suspiciously.

"Bye Cole," Tia waves, not taking her eyes off of the TV.

"Hmm... alright, spill it. What's going on between you two?" I ask, turning my gaze towards Tia. Did they get into a fight or something?

"What are you talking about, Cole?" Sara replies.

"Tia," I ignore Sara and press forward.

"Cole, there is nothing going on with us. We're fine," Sara insists.

"Tia," I pressure, really leaning into my glare.

"Tia, we promised we wouldn't say anything," Sara reminds her.

"Tia," I pressure further and Tia looks like she's about to crack.

"Not a word, Tia!" Sara exclaims and Tia starts holding her breath.

"Tia!" I exclaim.

"Tia!" Sara says, trying to stop the crumbling dam of Tia's whore mouth.

"I'M GOOD! I'm good..." Tia shouts and takes a deep, calming breath.

"TIA!" I scream.

"WE ONLY HAD SEX ONCE, OKAY!?" Tia cracks.

"Dammit, Tia!" Sara exclaims.

"W-What...?" I respond.

"W-Wait... you two had s-s-sex?" I ask, my mind being unable to wrap around the idea of both of my sisters sleeping together. I look from Tia to Sara and neither can meet my eyes.

"I-I don't have time for this right now so I'll just pretend I don't know anything about it... yeah, that's what I'll do. Come on, Sara," I robotically reply.

I grab Sara's free hand and touch my Haglaz rune.

"This way," I announce as I walk out of Jason's room.

"Cole... do you want to talk about what just happened?" Sara asks as she follows me down the hall.

"What are you talking about, Sara? Haha ha..." I laugh awkwardly as I lead her into Natasha's room.

"Here you go. Now, I have an assignment to take care of, so I'll see you later," I say.

"Cole, are you alright? You feel kind of... distressed," Cheza thinks.

"Yeah, I'm alright, Cheza. I'll see you later," I reply with a smile in her direction and exit the room.

I go to find Jason, who is most likely in Reyna's room, so I head back down the hall. I knock on the door when I get there and Jason answers.

"Hey CT, what's up?" Jason asks whilst shirtless. I'm starting to think that he just doesn't wear a shirt whenever he's in Reyna's room.

"I'm going to see Jericho. Want to come?" I inquire.

"Jerry? Sure, let me grab a shirt," Jason replies.

Jason snaps a shirt on, and we port to the street in front of the _Cas_ bar.

"Hey boss! Sorry I'm late for work by... three months, but things have been kind of busy!" I announce as I walk into the empty sports bar.

"Cole! How have you been!?" Jericho asks.

"I've been alright, how about you?" I reply.

"Good! Business has been good! Jason! It's good to see you again! Congrats on the engagement, or so I heard," Jericho exclaims.

"Jerry! Thanks man! You coming to the bachelor party?" Jason asks.

"I'll be there. Just send me the invite!" Jericho replies.

"Uh, Jericho, you should probably know that the party is being thrown by King Byron, the King of the Vampires..." I inform him, remembering Jericho's dislike of vampires due to the manner in which he was killed. Jericho's face falls at the new information, but lightens back up.

"I suppose I can overlook that for one night in celebration of Niflheim's only prince!" Jericho exclaims.

"Well, alright! Anyway, I need some assistance. Do you have a reloading bench and .460 S&W rounds? I need to make some custom bullets using silicon carbide," I explain.

"That I do. Follow me," Jericho says as he reaches under the bar and presses the button that reveals the secret passage to his armory. Jason and I follow him down the steps and into the armory.

"Here's the bench and here's a box of ammunition. Do you know how to use the reloading bench?" Jericho asks.

"Not really," I admit.

"Alright, I'll give you some assistance then. First you should make the bullets," Jericho suggests.

"Airi, can you make a .460 caliber bullet that has a message on it?"

(Yes, Master. What would you like it to say?)

"Continued on next bullet. Love, Feros."

The red silicon carbide bullet forms in the palm of my left hand and I'm about to hand it to Jericho when I recall what I'm using this bullet for.

"I'm planning on murdering someone with this bullet, so we should probably wear gloves," I mention.

"But I'm dead so my fingerprints will show up as being from a deceased man, if they show up at all," Jericho points out.

"I know, but I don't want fingerprints showing up at all. I want the bullets to be enigmatic enough to be heard of by people in power so that I know the right people will hear of them," I explain.

Jericho nods, kneels down, and pulls out a box of latex gloves. After pulling a pair on, he removes a .460 S&W round from the box and dismantles it. Jericho shows me how to load the casing with primer, powder, and how to place the bullet itself. I slide a glove onto my right hand, not worrying about my left because of the lack of fingerprints, and slide the bullet into my pocket.

"Thanks, Jericho! I'll probably be back in the near future to make a few more. I'm just going to take a few more of these, just in case," I say as I grab a few pairs of gloves and slip them into my pocket.

"By the way, do you have any anti-material rifles lying around?" I ask.

"I have the Barrett XM500 as well as plenty of .50 BMG rounds of various types," Jericho replies with a smile.

"Yeah, that should work if I end up needing it. Well, we have to get going. I should be getting a call about my assignment any minute now," I respond.

"Alright, see you around, Cole. And I'll see you at your last night as a free man, Jason," Jericho chuckles as Jason and I port back to the palace.

My phone jingles once, indicating that I've received a text message. I take out my phone and open the message, seeing that it's from Ryuji. The message has an address that Ryuji says is Michael Alejo's residence, a picture of a half Filipino man in his late thirties, and a short message saying that this Michael Alejo has the right connections to be a Templar so it must be him. I'm impressed that Ryuji was able to find the exact guy so easily. According to the address, Michael Alejo lives in San Francisco, California.

"Well, I'm off!" I announce.

"Good luck, CT!" Jason replies.

I touch my Haglaz and port to the armory at The Agency's Seattle office. I requisition a spotter's scope and then I port to the rooftop of a building across from Mr. Alejo's apartment, courtesy of Google Maps. Using the spotter's scope, I look into the apartment and see that no one is home at the moment.

"Airi, how far am I from the apartment?"

(87 meters)

Damn... guess I'll have to take the long way. I port back to Seattle, wait for a minute, engage my helmet so I won't leave any hair at the crime scene, and port into the apartment. I sit down in a chair, and wait... After half of an hour, boredom takes over and I pull out my phone. I turn it on silent and text Ryuji.

Hey, how did things go with Naia last night?

Amazing! We tried a bunch of positions from this book she found for couples with wings. We had sex on the fucking ceiling!

What? How do you even manage that?

It involved me holding her up and a lot of flapping... I think I pulled a muscle because my left wing has been limp and useless all day.

Try ice perhaps... I have to go. My mark is walking in the door.

Michael Alejo walks in the door and I sit really still. He turns on a light, walks into his kitchen, and sets his groceries down without noticing me. I sweep around behind him and cover his mouth with my left hand at shoulder level.

"Mr. Alejo. I believe you know who I am and what I'm capable of. Congratulations, you are the first step on the road to my systematic crippling of the Templars overnight. You will be giving me all the information you have on all Templars of high standing. This will not be your choice, of course. I just thought I'd let you know of your coming demise and that your friends will be joining you very soon," I tell him with my creepily modulated voice before feeding my blood down his throat.

I drop his unconscious body to the ground and lie down beside him. It's about time I got revenge for the harm they've done to my friends and family.

****

I see a blur of Michael Alejo's memories as I fast forward through them. The memory stream rolls to a stop on events that are from a few days ago. In the private booth of some lounge, a slender Caucasian man that is in his forties with white hair and grey-blue eyes sits across from me/Michael, wearing an all-black suit and a maroon tie. Judging by his relative height compared to Michael Alejo, I'd put him at about 6'4" tall.

"Feros seems to be taking an extended stay in the Underworld as of late," the man across the table says.

"Well, we can't exactly reach him if he's in the Underworld, Mr. Evari," Michael responds.

"Michael, call me Jack. That is correct. We can't reach him in the Underworld. However, that doesn't mean that we can't draw him out, or at the very least, harm him by harming those he cares for," Jack Evari replies.

"Should we give the order to attack the house again?" Michael asks.

"No, I have a better idea. Have that double agent in The Agency plant false information that the Templars have a sniper ready to take out the Russian president during his visit in New York tomorrow. Feros has a friend who happens to be The Agency's top counter-sniper, and killing her would deal another blow to Feros. Now, I have another meeting to get to," Jack Evari says.

"I'll tell The Council of Five about your plan in your stead," Michael replies. So he must be Jack Evari's assistant and Jack must be the head of this Council.

Jack Evari stands up and walks away while Michael sends a text that says:

False Report: Templar sniper assassination of Russian President in New York

The memories skip forward again, allowing me to hear the names and see the faces of the other four Council members before everything fades to black.

****

Chapter 13: Systemic Execution

[November 5th]

I awaken on the kitchen floor, the stove clock indicating it to be midnight, but who knows if that damn thing is right since stove clocks are notoriously inaccurate. The body of Michael Alejo lies nearby with blood running from his ears, nose, and mouth. That's to be expected when I practically ran the man's internal organs through a blender using tiny silicon carbide blades, which should result in quite a bit of attention during the autopsy. I stand up, draw my .460 caliber handgun, eject the magazine, slide the custom bullet into the top of the mag, replace the mag back into the gun, chamber the custom round, and fire the round into Mr. Alejo's head. His head explodes, splattering my jacket and jeans with blood. It's a good thing that they are both black, and thus conceal blood well.

I move what remains of Michael Alejo's head to the side and see that the silicon carbide bullet seems to have penetrated into the hardwood flooring, but doesn't appear to be fragmented like copper or lead would have. Ideally, the police will find the bullet and read the message, which will then be relayed to the Templars through their government connections. I want the Templars to be shitting their pants at the mere mention of my name after tonight. Not wanting to be around when the police show up, because someone in the building definitely heard the gun shot, I port back to Niflheim before calling Ryuji.

"Hello?" Ryuji answers.

"Hey, I got the information on the heads of the Templars. They call themselves the Council of Five," I inform him.

"How many members are there?" Ryuji asks.

"Five," I reply.

"Oh, so it's not one of those ironic names, like the nine Pieces of Eight," Ryuji says.

"No, it's not, and a piece of eight is actually a silver Spanish dollar. Anyway, I'm planning on taking out the whole council before morning. I have names and faces, but no addresses," I tell him.

"Alright, why don't you come to my apartment and we'll get some information on these guys. Oh, you've never been here huh? The address is..." Ryuji replies.

"Alright, I'll be there in a few," I say and hang up.

I use satellite maps to find an alleyway near Ryuji's apartment building and I port there. I walk around the building, ignoring Seattle's trademarked drizzle, to the front of the newer downtown apartment that I realize isn't all that far away from The Agency's office. Ryuji's name is on the directory so I press the call button and wait. The door clicks open a few seconds later and I head up to apartment 502.

"Hey Cole. Please, come in," Naia greets when she answers the door in her wing-modified flannel pajamas. I wasn't aware that they had been living together, but it does make sense. Where else was she going to go?

"Ryuji is back in his office," Naia says while walking away, indicating that I should follow.

Naia leads me to Ryuji's office, which looks more like a command center with all the computer monitors in here, along with two water-cooled desktops, a laptop, and a Mac Book. I look around and see that something Ryuji should have is completely missing.

"Hey, Naia? Could you get me a glass of water please?" I ask to get her to leave the room.

"I will be right back," Naia replies and exits Ryuji's office.

"So what did you do with all your dating sims and various paraphernalia?" I ask in a hushed tone.

"Reggie, another analyst, is hanging onto most of the stuff for me, but a few things I put in a safety deposit box," Ryuji replies in a similar fashion. I'm about to ask about the safety deposit box when Naia walks back in with a glass of water.

"Thanks. Naia, how do you walk around here with your wings and all?" I ask.

"I use illusion magic to camouflage my wings and tail. It takes a fair amount of concentration so I do not continue it when we are home," Naia replies.

"What about you, Ryuji? You said you grew up in San Francisco so how did you keep your supernatural identity a secret?" I inquire.

"Dragons can take a human form, but like Naia's illusion magic, it also requires quite a bit of concentration. My parents found another dragon in Chinatown and they taught me about being a dragon since my birth parents were supposed to, but didn't. They taught me to conceal my wings and tail when I was seven years old and trained me so that I could keep it up long enough to go to school. They told me that I can also turn into a full dragon, but the ability won't manifest itself until I hit my late twenties," Ryuji explains.

"What about your adoptive parents? They're imps, right?" I question.

"My parents don't have any problems because an imp's wings can fold in a certain way so as to be hidden, even by a t-shirt, and their tails are easily hidden in pants," Ryuji answers.

"Huh... so let's get back on task. The five names are Winston Weatherly, Vera Minamoto, Regis Caputo, Alistair Tinpinny, and Jack Evari, who appears to be the leader," I say as Ryuji's fingers hit the keyboard in a flurry. Three minutes later, he has four bios pulled up, each on a different screen.

"Yeah, their pictures correspond with the memories. What about Jack Evari?" I ask.

"I can't find anything on him... Are you sure the name is right?" Ryuji asks.

"Yeah, I'm positive, but his last name may be spelled a-v-e-r-y. I only heard the name, but the e-v-a-r-i spelling came up in Michael Alejo's mind," I reply. A few minutes later, Ryuji pulls up about ten photos, but none of them match.

"Nope, it's not any of them," I say.

"I figured as much. None of the backgrounds fit with that of a Templar," Ryuji responds.

"Well, what do we have on the others?" I inquire.

"It appears they were all in San Francisco on the 2nd—looks like we just missed them. Winston Weatherly actually lives on the outskirts of San Francisco though. Here's his address. According to building plans, his entire house is fortified enough to withstand a plane crashing into it. He has no family to speak of and lives alone," Ryuji informs me.

"So an assassination from outside of the house is out of the question... Looks like I'll be going to pay him a visit. Can you keep looking for info on Jack Evari?" I request.

"Sure. I'll keep you updated," Ryuji answers.

"Thanks," I reply and touch my Haglaz rune.

After porting to Jason's bedroom, I wait a minute before porting to Jericho's armory. I slip a new glove onto my right hand and help myself to the use of Jericho's reloading bench to make five messages.

(What would you like them to say?)

"1: How long did you think I would allow you 2: to harm my friends and family without retaliation? 3: Well this, this is my retaliation. 4: If you keep coming after me, 5: next time, I'll kill every last Templar."

(Ensure that you do not fire them from far away as they will not stay on target for any distance greater than twenty feet)

Five bullets form in my left palm, numbered on the tip. I take five .460 S&W rounds out of the box on the bench, dismantle them, and load my message bullets in the casings. I slip the rounds into my pocket, pull up maps of San Francisco on my phone, and enter in the address. It appears that Winston Weatherly's house is near a forest, which is perfect for me. I touch my right shoulder, port to the forest, and pull out my spotter's scope. Winston's house is a large cylindrical concrete structure that looks not unlike a flying saucer due to the modern architecture. The light from a TV illuminates the living room through the windows that serve as walls; no doubt that they're made of bulletproof glass.

I'm definitely more than a hundred meters away so I draw my .460, load in the first message bullet, engage my helmet, and port into the living room. Winston is startled by my sudden appearance and tips over his glass of scotch.

"Do you know the rumor that there's a special circle of hell reserved for those who waste good scotch? I guess you're about to find out if it's just a rumor," I tell the forty year old man as he frantically reaches for the gun on his hip. I fire my message into Winston's head before he can draw it. Since a couch doesn't have the same ricocheting properties that a hardwood floor has, not a single drop of Winston's blood gets on me.

Since Winston's house is really far out of the way and I don't want his body being found after the others, I pick up the phone and dial 911.

"911, what's your emergency?" the operator asks.

"I just killed someone in this house," I say with my helmet-modulated voice and hang up.

Now, to plant some evidence that connects this and Michael Alejo's murder. I walk into the adjoined kitchen as the phone starts ringing. I grab a kitchen towel with my left hand and wipe off some of Mr. Alejo's blood from my jacket. Now that that is taken care of, I touch my left shoulder blade and port back to Ryuji's place.

"Next," I announce as I appear in his office.

"AH!" Naia yelps and hops off of Ryuji's lap, whilst topless.

"Sorry for interrupting," I say while averting my eyes as Naia locates her shirt.

"You weren't! Naia was just sitting on my lap to help me look for info on Jack Evari!" Ryuji exclaims in a nervous fashion, making completely obvious excuses.

"Topless?" I ask.

"She said she was hot!" Ryuji exclaims.

"This is Seattle... and it's November..." I argue, you know, just to be a dick.

"Alright so Regis Caputo lives in the only penthouse of an upscale apartment in Chicago. He also lives there alone and seems to have done some private contracting on the windows, most likely bulletproof glass installation. There is also a security checkpoint in the lobby of the building and a card key is required for the elevator. You could requisition a key card cracker, but that won't help with the security checkpoint," Ryuji informs me, changing the subject.

"I can just port in after seeing into his apartment," I reply.

"Only problem is that the apartment is on the top floor and is the tallest building around for a couple miles. You also most likely won't be able to see through the glass," Ryuji explains.

"Hmm... is there roof access?" I inquire.

Ryuji taps away at his keyboard and a satellite map of the roof pops up on a monitor a few seconds later, showing that there is roof access.

"Alright, I'm off. After I'm done, should I just call or come back?" I ask with a smile before engaging my helmet and porting to the roof in Chicago.

I approach the door to the stairwell, find that it's unlocked, and head down one floor. I walk down the hallway and stop in front of Regis Caputo's door, listening for signs of him being awake, which is doubtful when it's 3am here, but nonetheless. Hearing only gentle snoring in the penthouse, I get to work on figuring out how I'll get inside.

(You may wish to hurry, Master. There is a security camera on the wall)

I look over and see that Airi is correct. Shit, this cuts my time short. I reach out and place my left hand on the door.

"I create nothing. I preserve nothing. I only _erase_ ," I whisper as the silver in my arm flushes to black and my eyes get that bizarre feeling again.

The entire door loses substance and fades into smoke as the black in my arm reverts to silver. I stride through the doorway while drawing my .460 and loading the second message bullet into the chamber. I walk down the hall, kick in the bedroom door, and fire my message into Regis Caputo from the doorway. I grab a nearby t-shirt and wipe off more of Michael Alejo's blood from my person and leave the t-shirt on top of the dresser to the left of the door.

"Well that was less than satisfactory, but at least I killed him," I say after porting back to Ryuji's office and disengaging my helmet.

"What happened?" Ryuji asks.

"A security camera caught a shot of me. Anyway, next," I reply.

"Alistair Tinpinny is a resident of Miami and lives in a two-story house on the beach. He doesn't appear to have a wife or kids, but more women use the facebook check-in feature at his house than at... abortion clinics?" Ryuji says.

"You were trying to think of places women frequent and the first thing that comes to mind is an abortion clinic? What in the hell is wrong with you?" I ask with a mocking tone.

"Alright, then you tell me. Where do women frequent?" Ryuji asks.

"My bed," I say without missing a beat.

"Nice," Ryuji admits, trying not to laugh.

"I try. So are there any defenses around the house?" I inquire.

"There don't appear to be, just the seemingly standard bulletproof windows," Ryuji replies.

"Alright. Can you pull up a map of the beach near his house? I need a spot that's farther than one hundred meters away with a clear line of sight," I request.

"Here is probably your best bet," Ryuji says while pointing to a stretch of beach.

"Okay, be back soon," I say and port to the beach.

Upon arriving, I remove my spotter's scope and realize that I have no idea which house it is. I pull out my phone and place a call to Ryuji.

"What's up?" Ryuji asks.

"Well it's 4:30am here and all these houses look alike!" I reply.

"WHO'S THERE!?" I hear a woman shout from the house nearby.

"This is a private beach. You can't be here!" the older woman exclaims. Luckily, it's still dark so that she can't see my face.

"Relax ma'am, I'm just trying to do my job. I'm a private investigator who was hired by Mrs. Tinpinny, the wife of your neighbor Alistair. I'm investigating to see if he's guilty of adultery. My partner told me to go to the back of the house via the beach, but I have no idea which house I'm looking for from the back," I reply, thinking quickly.

"I wasn't aware Mr. Tinpinny had a wife. Well, I suppose since those in your profession helped me to get this house in the first place, I should return the favor. The house you're looking for is five doors down," the woman replies.

"Thanks!" I reply while hanging up on Ryuji. I point my scope in the direction and see movement in the bedroom.

"It looks like I finally caught him in the act. Thank you ma'am, you were a big help. I need to go write up my report to Mrs. Tinpinny now," I say and head down the beach, away from the house.

Upon hearing the click of the woman's door shutting, I engage my helmet, draw my gun, load in the third message, and port into Alistair Tinpinny's bedroom.

"Congratulations, Alistair. You're number three," I announce.

Alistair responds by freaking out and tripping off of the bed, onto the floor. I deliver my third message, causing the girl on the bed to start screaming her head off.

"Would you relax?" I ask, but she just continues screaming.

"SHUT UP!" I shout while pointing the gun at her.

That cuts her scream off, but it also makes me feel bad. I holster my gun, walk over to the bedside table and turn on the light.

"Listen, I'm not going to hurt you. I need you to give my description to the police when they come by. Speaking of, you should probably call them," I inform her and she moves to get out of bed.

"Wait!" I exclaim, causing her to start quivering. I grab a pillow off of the bed and place it on top of Alistair's missing head.

"There. Seeing something like that tends to be rather scarring to most people. Alright, bye now," I nonchalantly say and exit the bedroom.

Once out of sight, I touch my triskele and port back to Ryuji's office. Ryuji is nowhere to be found in his office, so I bring his computer out of the screensaver and see Vera Minamoto's address. It's in Bellevue, on Lake Washington. I bring up the maps on my phone, not wanting to disturb Ryuji's sanctum.

I port to the street, glad that it's still only 2:40am here. I walk over to the house and peer in the windows, checking to make sure no one is awake, but I find something that wasn't present in the other council member's houses: there are toys. I walk a hundred meters down the street before engaging my helmet and porting into the living room of the house. There are a few toys on a nearby kitchen counter that acts as a divider between the living room and the kitchen. There are children's DVDs on top of the entertainment system. A mantle nearby paints the rest of the picture: a little girl, a husband, a happy family, a memorial picture of the husband.

Shit! I'm not about to orphan this kid...

(You could always eliminate both of them)

"No, that isn't an option."

I go into the kitchen with an alternative strategy in mind. After locating a pen and paper, I write a note:

To: Vera Minamoto

I've decided to spare the lives of you and your daughter. Isn't that kind of me? The bullets you found contain the last two pieces of my message to the Templars.

With Love,

Feros

With the note written, now all I have to do is plant the bullets to satisfactorily freak her out. I go to the door and slip off my shoes in the sunken entryway so that I'll make less noise on the hardwood flooring. I tiptoe down the hall and into the room that contains the softer breathing. After placing the bullet on the bedside table of a young half-Japanese girl who can't be older than six, I exit the room and go down the hall into the master bedroom. I place the fifth message bullet on Vera's bedside table and carefully leave her room. I return to the sunken entryway and sit down on the step to put on my shoes.

"Don't move," Vera whispers as I hear the clink of metal against my helmet while feeling a pressure as the gun barrel is pressed firmly against it.

"Who are you and why did you leave a bullet by my bedside?" Vera questions with a hushed tone.

"The NRA's Santa?" I reply.

"You think this is funny?" Vera asks.

"I do find it funny that you seem to think that you were the only one," I say.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Vera inquires.

"Doesn't Santa usually come for children?" I rhetorically ask.

"Bastard! I swear, if you hurt my daughter—" Vera quietly exclaims as she presses the gun in harder.

"Had I wanted to kill you or your daughter, I already would have, as every other member of the Council of Five can attest to except for Jack Evari, but that's only because I haven't found him yet," I interrupt.

"What are you talking about? Who's Jack Evari?" Vera questions.

"You know who he is. He's a member of the Council with you, Alistair, Regis, and Winston," I reply.

"I've never heard of Jack Evari," Vera says.

"Bullshit. I got the information from Michael Alejo and it's been right so far," I say.

"You are so full of shit. The head of the Council would never give you any information. What did you do to him!?" Vera demands.

So Alejo was the head of the Council? That doesn't make any sense. He seemed to be taking his orders from Jack Evari in his memories...

"I'm sure you'll find out all about it at work in a few hours. Make sure you bring that bullet and the one I left in your daughter's room. I also left a note on your fridge. Bye," I say and quickly scoot to the left so that I don't accidentally take Vera with me when I port.

Chapter 14: Kitsune Mysteries

When I arrive in Niflheim, I pull out my phone and text Ryuji.

Didn't kill Vera, discovered that she has a kid and couldn't do it. Spoke with her and discovered that she doesn't know Jack Evari and that Michael Alejo was the last member of the Council. I'm positive Michael Alejo was taking orders from Jack Evari, and that Evari is in his forties, around 6'4" with white hair and grey-blue eyes. Look into that... tomorrow, since you're probably tired and want to go to sleep.

I press send and strip off my jacket, holster, and change my bloody pants before going to check on Natasha. Sara and Cheza are absent from the room when I arrive so I take a seat at Natasha's bedside. Sara didn't apply a feeding tube, but a saline drip has been erected. I brush a loose strand of blonde hair out of Natasha's face and grab her hand.

"You have to wake up, okay Natasha? I can't afford to lose somebody I care about... not again," I whisper.

(If you really wish for her to awaken, kiss her, Master)

I lean in and gently brush my lips against hers.

"Cole?" Natasha whispers as her green eyes flutter open.

(Holy shit, that actually worked!? I was just fucking with you)

"Hey Natasha," I softly reply, overcome with joy.

"Where are we?" Natasha asks.

"We're in Niflheim. I brought you here when you fell unconscious after the fight with the Templars two days ago," I answer.

"Two days? Well that explains why I'm so hungry," Natasha says.

"I'll go fix you something to eat. I'll be right back, Natasha," I reply and start to leave the room.

"Hey Cole?" Natasha says when I reach the door.

"Yeah?" I respond.

"Can you call me like you did when we were on the rooftop? I kinda liked it and you always call Chezarei by the shortened form of her name..." Natasha quietly asks.

"Sure, Tasha. I'll be right back," I reply and head to the kitchen.

I find a can of chicken noodle soup in the pantry alongside some crackers so I prepare those, feeling that they are appropriate for some reason. I stack the bowl of soup, plate of crackers, and a glass of juice on a tray and return to Natasha's room.

"Here you go," I say as I set the tray down on her lap.

"Thanks, Cole. Did you stay with me this whole time?" Natasha asks.

"No, I didn't," I reply. Natasha looks rather disappointed by my answer.

"I left you in Cheza's care while I went out and systematically executed all but one of the heads of the Templars... at least the ones in the US anyway," I reply.

"Oh..." Natasha says, her face perking up in response as she eats her soup. I have no clue what she's thinking.

(She's thinking that you aren't the type of guy who would sit by her bedside whilst holding her hand, and that systematic execution is the way you show that you care)

"That makes me sound like a truly horrible person!"

(Well systemic execution rarely makes anyone sound good)

"Hey Cole, how is—NATASHA! I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY!" Cheza screams as she runs across the room and hugs Natasha.

"Whoa, watch the soup!" Natasha replies as my phone starts ringing.

"Hello?" I answer while exiting Natasha's room.

"Treyfair-san?" Yui asks, sounding distraught.

"Just call me Cole, Yui. What's wrong?" I question.

"I need your help..." Yui replies.

"Where are you?" I ask.

"Fushimi Inari Taisha, Lord Inari's shrine in Kyoto..." Yui says.

"Got it. I'll be there in about five minutes. See you soon," I reply and hang up.

"I have to go help a friend. Be back soon," I think to Cheza and Natasha as I run down the hall towards Jason's room.

Natasha and Cheza both reply with a variation of "Okay Cole, be careful!"

I smile as I put on my holster and jacket, walk into the bathroom, dampen a towel, and clean off the blood that is still on my jacket.

I pull out my phone and Google Fushimi Inari Taisha. Upon finding a picture of the shrine's Torii gate walkway, I touch my Haglaz and port there. The thousands of Torii gates were far less creepy in the photograph than they are in real life. The red and black wooden arches seem to stretch on forever, bordering the walkway leading deeper into Inari's shrine. I start walking down the path in Kyoto's twilight when I see a bushy silver tail sticking out from behind a Torii gate.

"Addie!" I exclaim and run towards the tail, only to have it turn into a shrub when I approach.

"You have to stop doing this to yourself, Cole," I tell myself and continue walking.

" _Daddy,"_ I hear Addie say.

"No, you aren't actually hearing her. She's not here," I say to myself.

"Daddy!"

"Stop it."

"DADDY!"

"Make it stop!" I shout and sprint forward with my eyes closed. As I rebound off of a Torii gate and hit the pavement, I find myself thinking that that wasn't a smart decision.

I decide to just let everything fade away.

"Treyfa—I mean, Cole?" Yui asks with concern, interrupting my attempts to let everything fade way less than a minute later.

"Uh-huh," I reply as I open my eyes.

"What happened!?" Yui inquires.

"Hallucinations of my dead daughter that I'm attributing to the Torii gates. Can you lead me to the shrine now? I'm just going to keep my eyes closed so nothing comes back," I explain.

"Okay," Yui replies and helps me up. I continue holding onto her hand and close my eyes as she leads me down the path.

"So what do you need help with?" I ask and Yui stops walking, causing me to bump into her.

"Somebody has been killing kitsune... I'll tell you more when we get to the shrine," Yui quietly replies and keeps walking. About ten minutes later, Yui stops again.

"We're here," Yui says and I open my eyes.

There is a statue of a fox with a key in its mouth in front of us, and nothing else around. Yui holds her hand up to the fox and its eyes suddenly jolt open. Yui's hand erupts in flames, but it doesn't seem to bother her.

"Okaerinasai," a deep bass voice rumbles from the statue.

"Set your hand on the statue," Yui says.

I place my left hand on the statue, just in case my hand decides to burst into flames. The ground shifts beneath my feet and a temple similar to the one at the Kaguraden appears behind the statue, except that this temple appears to be made of solid gold. Kitsune are everywhere and several of them come over.

"Anata wa nihongo o hanashimasuka?" a kitsune with four tails asks me.

"Uh, chyotto," I reply and hold my fingers apart slightly to show her how well I speak Japanese.

I reach behind to the back of my neck, touch the silver lotus, and bring the newly formed earbud around to my left ear inconspicuously.

"This is him, right Yui? The guy that you have been talking about nonstop for the past couple months? He's pretty cute, I guess. Has your prince come to find your elder sister's killer?" the four-tailed kitsune asks, her mouth not matching her words.

"Somebody killed your older sister!?" I inquire.

"He understands Japanese perfectly. He just doesn't speak it well," Yui says while glaring at the other kitsune.

"Yes, Cole. My sister was killed last night and four other kitsune have been killed in a similar fashion. Chie can tell you more," Yui solemnly replies and starts toward the temple.

"Who's Chie?" I ask.

"She's one of the kitsune elders," Yui replies.

I follow her up the steps of the temple and she slides open two golden doors. Yui continues down a hall before opening the golden partition of a room. Inside the room is a woman with white hair, white ears, white tails, and almond-shaped, vermillion-colored eyes. My breath catches in my throat upon seeing Kita's likeness. The two could have been twins if it weren't for this woman's eye color, paler skin tone, and nine tails.

"Chie-sama, this is Cole Treyfair-san," Yui introduces. Despite being an 'elder' kitsune, Chie doesn't look older than forty.

"The introduction is unnecessary, young one. I would not be fit to be an elder if I didn't know about Feros," the kitsune says in English while looking at me with disdain. My mind flashes to seeing bullet-hole Kita standing in front of me with glowing orbs where her eyes are, causing bile to rise in my throat.

"Cole has agreed to help us with the investigation," Yui says.

"It isn't good to be on a first name basis with a demon, dear. So Feros thinks he will be joining us, does he?" Chie rhetorically asks with a gaze full of contempt.

" _Join us, Cole,"_ Kita's voice echoes in my mind.

I can no longer contain the bile that is working its way up my esophagus. I race out of the room and continue down the hall, searching for a restroom.

(Three doors down on your left, Master)

After throwing the partition open and sprinting in, I'm able to get the golden toilet seat up as vomit flies from my mouth. I sit there retching for about a minute when Yui comes in and starts rubbing my back.

"What's wrong, Cole?" Yui gently asks.

"Chie reminds me of my dead girlfriend who haunted my dreams for a few months a little while back. I'll help you find who has been killing your friends and who killed your sister, but afterwards I think it's better if you don't associate with me. Girls with furry ears and a tail tend not to live very prosperous lives when I'm around," I tell her with my face in the toilet.

"Cole..." Yui starts, but doesn't say anything else.

I use toilet paper to wipe my mouth before flushing, washing my hands, and gargling in an attempt to get the taste of acid out of my mouth. After that, Yui and I return to Chie's room.

"So what leads do you have in the investigation?" I ask.

"All we know is that the victims have been gunned down, usually with a gunshot to the head. Seeing as they were able to kill a five-tailed kitsune, I'd say that the perpetrator is quick, nimble, lucky, or a combination," Chie tells me.

"Do you have the reports handy? I'd like to have my analyst take a look at them to see if they can find anything," I say.

Chie snaps her fingers and a manila folder appears on the tatami mat beneath my feet. If she can conjure things, she must hold domain over this realm...

"Thanks," I say as I bend down and pick up the folder. "I'll deliver this to my analyst. He should be waking up right about now anyway. I'll be back tomorrow."

"Thank you, Cole. Goodnight," Yui says.

"Goodnight, Yui. I'll see you tomorrow," I reply and touch my triskele, but nothing happens.

"I guess I'm going to have to go out through the gate. I'll call you when I have any information," I say and exit the temple.

I head back to the fox statue and place my left hand on it before the ground shifts underneath me, indicating that I'm back on earth's plane. I touch my triskele, port to Ryuji's front door, and I pound on it several times. It's already 8am here, meaning Ryuji has gotten about six hours of sleep so there's no excuse for him to not answer the door.

"Cole, Ryuji is still asleep. What do you need?" Naia asks in a hushed tone when she answers the door.

"I have a test of your abilities as an analyst, Naia," I tell her while holding up the manila folder and walking past her, into the apartment.

"What is that?" Naia questions.

"I'm helping out the kitsune. Someone has been killing them off and I need some information to catch them," I reply.

"Give it here!" Naia exclaims, excited by the challenge, and snatches the folder from my hand.

"Haha, give me a call when you find out anything. Thanks, Naia!" I say and touch my Haglaz.

I port into Jason's room, waking Cheza in the process.

"Cole? How did things go?" Cheza sleepily asks.

"Besides having hallucinations of both Addie and Kita, resulting in me puking my guts out into a toilet, things went great... at least the toilet was made of gold," I sarcastically reply as I strip down to my boxers and climb into bed.

"Oh, Cole... What am I going to do with you?" Cheza says as she wraps her arm around me and snuggles into my side. I snuggle against her and start to drift off to sleep, when my phone starts ringing. I reach over to the bedside table to answer it.

"Cole, I have discovered something. It might be nothing, but it seems a little too coincidental. At each of the five murder locations, there was a fatal mugging in the area. I do not know what it means yet, but I think they are connected. I will bring it up with Ryuji when he awakens," Naia reports.

" _You know the orders: no witnesses. Make it look like a mugging," the_ memory of Jarrett's voice (Cheza's dead Templar ex-boyfriend) echoes in my mind.

"Don't bother, Naia. I know who's behind this: the Templars. Look into possible Templar activity in Japan and have Ryuji do the same please. I need to get some rest. Goodnight Naia," I reply.

"Sleep well, Cole."

...

Chapter 15: Murder at an Amusement Park

[November 6th]

I awaken at midnight the next day to find Cheza staring at me. She looks away with flushed cheeks when she sees that I'm awake.

"Jeez Cole! You've slept for nearly sixteen hours!" Cheza complains.

"I was just catching up from not sleeping at all the past two nights since I don't really sleep when I scan someone's memories. What were you staring at?" I reply.

"What? Oh, I was looking at your aura again. I could swear that some of the silver cracks have faded and it has gotten blacker, but it could just be my imagination... Anyway, Ryuji called about an hour ago. He said he's found something," Cheza informs me.

"Alright, I guess I'd better get going," I say and stand up out of bed.

"I'm coming too," Cheza tells me as she gets out of bed.

"Why?" I ask as we head into the bathroom. Cheza and I strip down and jump in the shower.

"Is there some reason that you don't want me to come?" Cheza inquires as she turns on the shower.

"Perhaps because my presence would put a damper on your efforts to start a harem of sexy Japanese fox-girls?" Cheza asks.

"What? That's ridiculous! I don't even want a harem. I have all the action I can stand between you and Natasha," I deny while scrubbing up.

"Is that so..." Cheza quietly replies, seemingly lost in thought while washing her hair.

We finish our shower and get dressed, me in jeans and my jacket, Cheza in jeans and her armored hoodie. I unclip my pouch from the rest of my holster and stick it onto my lower back. Cheza removes her Synergistic blades from the sheath and slides one down each of her thighs, the hilts resting on her hips and concealed by her jacket. I grab her hand, port us to Ryuji's front door, and knock.

"Hey, come on in," Ryuji answers.

"So I did some digging around into Templar activity in Japan and found—" Ryuji starts to say, but my phone's ringing interrupts him.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Cole, there's been another killing. Chie told me to let you know and ask if you would like to go to the crime scene to see if you can find anything," Yui says.

"Yeah, I'll meet you at the temple. See you soon," I reply and hang up.

"There's been another murder so I'm going to the crime scene to investigate," I announce.

"That's probably a good idea because I wasn't able to find anything out about the Templars in Japan, but I did notice something. Inari is the only Shinto god that has been firmly against Loki since the very beginning," Ryuji informs me.

"Do you think that's why the kitsune are getting attacked? Because they're Inari's messengers?" I ask.

"I don't know, I just noticed it as a possible connection. I'll keep looking into it, but at this point I can't even confirm that Templars are in Japan. Are you sure that they're the ones behind this?" Ryuji asks.

"Not really. When Naia told me about the mugging fatalities, I remembered something that a Templar had said about eliminating witnesses and making them look like muggings. Well, just keep looking into it and call me if you find anything. See you later," I reply.

I grab Cheza's hand, touch my triskele, and we appear on the pathway lined with Torii gates.

"Hey Cole," Yui greets, waving us over.

"Yui, this is Chezarei, my fiancée. Cheza, this is my friend Yui," I introduce.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Cheza says.

"It's nice to meet you too," Yui replies. I don't know why, but this situation seems to be incredibly awkward.

"Anyway, where is the crime scene?" I ask while trying to ignore the awkwardness.

"Fukushima, at the Takakonuma amusement park," Yui tells me.

"Sweet! Let's go! I just need a picture and I can port us there," I reply.

"I was able to obtain an old park map," Yui says and hands me a brochure-sized map. I look it over and see rollercoasters and various other rides.

"Where should I port in? Won't there be people everywhere?" I ask.

"The park is shut down," Yui replies.

"Oh, that makes sense, what with the body and everything. How will we get past the police line?" I inquire.

"They'll be expecting us," Yui says.

"So the police know about the supernatural here?" I question.

"The majority of the police forces don't, but we're dealing with the supernatural department of law enforcement in Japan," Yui answers.

"Alright, I'll just port us to the main gate then. Hold on," I say and hold out my left arm.

Cheza grabs on and Yui follows suit. I bask in anticipation at the magic of theme parks as I port to the main gate.

A chill immediately runs up my spine and not one of excitement or because I'm taking a piss... although I just had to check to make sure.

"I thought that when you said that the park was shut down, you meant for the day," I say as I look at the rusty gate, broken sign, and overall state of decay that is barely visible through the dense fog.

"No, it has been closed for nearly fifteen years," Yui replies and heads through the gate.

I follow after her, despite every nerve in my body screaming at me not to. The black guy in the movie theater of the slightly racist part of my mind screaming, "No bitch, don't go in there! He gonna kill you!" my helmet even engages involuntarily while Cheza wraps her hand in mine and follows me. Yui's aura is about fifteen feet in front of me, which is the only thing of hers that I can see with the combination of twilight and fog. We continue through the park until I see multiple fog lights set up, acting as a perimeter.

At the center of the fog lights is the body of a kitsune with four tails, and this one is male. Oh, and he also has about ten bullet holes in him, which I determine is the cause of death because I'm obviously Sherlock Holmes in this investigation. There are roughly a dozen people doing various things around the body, and Yui is chatting with a woman with long black hair that reaches her lower back. The woman has her arms folded underneath her sizable breasts and looks none too happy about our intrusion. I hear them speaking Japanese for only a second before my helmet starts translating.

"Okay, just tell him to be careful with the crime scene and to be back here before the sunset," the woman says to Yui.

"Did you catch that?" Yui asks.

"Si," I reply.

"What?" Yui asks, perplexed.

"Yes, I did. Be back before sunset and don't fuck anything up—got it. I'll take a look around and let you know if I find anything. Can you ask the detective for some rubber gloves and evidence bags?" I ask and Yui relays my request. The detective's long black hair reaches into her pocket and removes a pair of gloves while her arms stay folded.

"You're not designated to catalogue evidence. Just tell someone if you find something," the detective says with some disdain as her hair dangles the gloves in front of me.

"She's a harionago: a yokai, or supernatural creature, that can control her hair," Yui informs me in response to my stunned gaze at the detective.

"Yes, ma'am," I reply and take the gloves, being careful of the barbs on the ends of each strand of her hair.

I bend down and examine the body. Within about thirty seconds, I notice something unusual: with the exception of the money shot, the other nine wounds are all grazing shots. None of the shots, besides the one to his skull, would have really slowed him down. This means that he was either gunned down in a lucky spray of bullets, or something slowed him down. I turn the victim's head to the side and see that the headshot has penetrated through his skull and has sunken into the pavement. That eliminates the 'lucky spray of bullets' theory, meaning...

"Hey Yui, are kitsune resistant to poison?" I inquire.

"Not particularly. Why?" Yui replies.

I respond by sticking a gloved pinkie into one of the bullet entry wounds in the victim's leg while the detective yells at me.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing!?" the detective angrily asks with the ends of her hair sticking up and pointing towards me.

"Yui, please tell the detective that this is necessary and that there are still nine holes that I haven't fucked with so she can test those," I request.

Yui relays my message while I stick my pinkie in as far as physically possible. Once it hits something, I wiggle it around before removing it, opening the lower portion of my helmet, and sticking my bloodied finger in my mouth.

"Cole, what are you doing?" Yui asks.

"Testing the blood for poison," I reply.

(Your hypothesis seems accurate, Master. The compound present is the same compound that poisoned you: chlorotoxin and Datura seed extract)

"Have any casings been found?" I ask and Yui translates.

"No, there haven't been any," the detective snidely replies.

"I'm going to go take a look around," I announce.

With that, I walk away from the crime scene. I start taking a look around for anything out of the ordinary while searching for casings, which is damn near impossible with this fog.

"Hey, now that we're alone, I need to talk to you," Cheza thinks while catching up to me.

"About what?" I ask.

"About Natasha. What happened to you two on the mission? She's been acting strangely since she woke up," Cheza replies.

"Nothing that stands out. I took out a Predator drone, injuring myself in the process, and Natasha fought off around fifteen Templars," I recant.

"Nothing else?" Cheza asks.

"Nothing. Oh, I guess I called her Tasha for the first time and she asked me to keep calling her that, but that's it," I reply.

"What!?" Cheza exclaims, feeling alarmed for some reason.

"What?" I ask.

"Why did you suddenly start calling her Tasha!?" Cheza questions.

"Because I was being shot at by a sniper and Natasha is an extra syllable's worth of time that the sniper would have to shoot me again," I explain.

"Oh... I thought you might've called her that out of love..." Cheza quietly replies.

"What? Natasha and I are just friends, Cheza! What gave you the impression that I saw her as anything else?" I inquire.

"Well, you did go on a killing spree when you thought she was dying..." Cheza softly thinks, insecurity flowing out of her in droves.

"Cheza, come on. You know me better than that! I'd go on a killing spree for like, no reason! Hurt my friend? Killing spree. Interrupt my dinner with gunfire? Killing spree. Need to burn calories after a cup of gelato? Killing spree. Can't put Ikea furniture together? Killing spree," I list.

"Alright, I get it," Cheza interrupts, cutting my listing short.

"Besides, did you forget what happened when I thought you were dead three weeks ago? I tried to put a bullet in my brain less than a minute after I killed the Ifrit King," I expound.

"Yeah... Cole, have you ever wondered why Natasha still wears your engagement ring on that chain around her neck?" Cheza asks.

"Well she was obviously mourning the death of the only fiancé she's had that she didn't despise," I reply.

"No, Cole... Natasha is in lo—"

"SILENCE!" I loudly interrupt.

"Do not finish that sentence... just don't," I quietly tell her.

"Why?" Cheza asks.

"Because... if you say it, I'll have to acknowledge it... and if I acknowledge it, I'll have to do something about it... and if I do something about it, I'll irrevocably change or end my friendship with her and I only have six of those to begin with... friends, that is," I explain.

"This isn't something you can just sweep under the rug and hope it goes away," Cheza gently tells me.

"I know... I just... I need some time alone. Head back to the crime scene, please," I quietly request and walk in the opposite direction. Cheza respects my wishes and makes her way towards the crime scene.

(Cheza is not mistaken, Master)

"I know, Airi... I've known since that night in Natasha's penthouse."

I walk into a break in the fog as I notice the setting sun, and see something interesting: a young girl with silver hair, silver ears sticking out of her head, and a bushy silver tail that pokes out through a hole in her skirt. No, Cole. Addie can't be here... can she? The girl walks around a corner and I follow after her. Rearing the corner, I see her stopped about fifteen feet ahead. I approach slowly and get within five feet, but the illusion still hasn't disappeared.

"Addie?" I say as I reach out and set my hand on her shoulder—her solid shoulder.

"Addie!" I joyfully exclaim as she turns around and I discover that she has no face. Her head is completely devoid of a mouth, nose, or eyes. I feel a few tears slip down my cheeks as I fall to my knees.

"Haha poor mortal! Do you truly miss her that much?" the creature asks in a way that is unfathomable to me because of the lack of a mouth, as it transforms to a height of about five feet and loses its hair.

"Then allow me to reunite you both!" the creature exclaims while pulling a knife from behind its back and tries to stab me in the chest.

The creature is perplexed by the lack of stab-icity as it tries sticking me with the knife several more times. I look at its efforts as annoyance and anger take over. I tackle the creature to the ground as my helmet disengages.

"I'VE BEEN TRYING! TO GET OVER! THE DEATH OF! MY DAUGHTER! YOU FUCKING! ASSHOLE! YOU JUST! HAD TO! BRING HER! UP!" I shout, punching it in the face with each exclamation. The creature weakly reaches up and stabs at my neck, clipping my jugular.

"FUCK! YOUR! KNIFE!" I yell, really leaning into my punches as blood splatters onto my cheek.

"COLE! STOP!" Cheza shouts and pulls me off of the creature.

"It tricked me into seeing Addie and then laughed in my face about it!" I angrily expound, flailing my leg out and kicking it in the ribs as Cheza drags me back.

"Did you ever stop to think that it might've seen something that will help the investigation!?" Cheza asks.

"That's actually a smart idea..." I admit.

I grab the creature by the leg, and drag it back to the crime scene.

"This thing might've seen something... it also might be dead... totally not my fault," I report. The detective looks furious, but Yui just looks at me with pity.

"Did this noppera-bo trick you into seeing your dead girlfriend, or your dead daughter?" Yui gently asks.

"Daughter... How did it even know about her?" I solemnly reply.

"Noppera-bo use illusion magic that makes them appear to be the one person that their victim wants to see most. It didn't actually know her," Yui replies. I shake my head clear of any lingering thoughts and focus on the matter at hand.

"I was unable to find any casings, but I have determined that the kitsune was hit with chlorotoxin infused bullets. Those specialized bullets are the exact ones that I've witnessed Templars using. Since they were shot out of MP7A1 submachine guns before, if the bullets in this kitsune are 4.6 x 30mm rounds, then we'll know for sure since that caliber is exclusive to the Heckler & Koch MP7. The noppera-bo may be able to tell us how this kitusne was killed exactly, but I'm almost positive that the Templars are the organization behind it. Now, it's just a matter of locating the organization," I report.

"Were the men that attacked me in the park also Templars?" Yui asks.

"Yeah, they were. I'm not too sure what to do now though because my analyst hasn't been able to find anything on Templar activity in Japan," I reply.

"I'll work through some connections and I'll call you if anything turns up," Yui says.

"Alright, see you later, Yui," I respond before grabbing Cheza's hand and touching my Haglaz rune.

"Cole, I think you should see a psychologist," Cheza says as I walk into Jason's bathroom to rinse off my face and arm.

"I hardly think that's necessary, Cheza," I reply while drying my face off.

"Cole, Addie's death has drastically affected you and sometimes I feel like you might be losing your grip on reality," Cheza gently explains.

"Cheza, I understand that she's dead and that it's my fault. I'm not delusional about any part of it," I clarify with a rational tone.

"That's exactly the kind of thing I'm talking about!" Cheza angrily exclaims as my phone starts ringing.

"This is Cole," I answer as Cheza leaves the room in a huff.

"Mr. Treyfair, this is King Byron," an oxford accent oozes over the speaker.

"Ah, Byron, what can I do for you?" I ask.

"We have a bachelor party to plan," Byron reminds me.

"Shit... I'm actually in the middle of an investigation right now. Is it possible for you to plan it without me? I've never so much as been to a bachelor party so I doubt that I'd be much help anyway," I reply.

"Of course. Do you know how many will be coming?" Byron asks.

"Only four, I think," I reply.

"Very well, I shall plan the bachelor party on my own then," Byron states.

"Thank you. Sorry for the inconvenience," I respond.

"Don't fret over it. Goodbye," Byron replies and hangs up.

My vision suddenly blurs and the ground races toward my face. Small, chilly, arms catch me and halt the floor's advances.

"Doesn't feel so great being on the receiving end of this little trick, now does it?" Cheza whispers as unconsciousness claims me.

...

I awaken to find myself handcuffed to Jason's bed with four fuzzy handcuffs on each arm.

"I see that you are awake," Sara says from the bedside. I see what's going on.

"I told Cheza that I don't need therapy..." I grumble absentmindedly.

"Cole, let's just face it. You're mildly bipolar at best and Addie's death has greatly exacerbated things," Sara states.

"So I'm having hallucinations of my dead daughter... big whoop! It's just part of my grieving process! Why does nobody understand that?" I explain.

"Oh really... and what grieving process is this? Hallucinations are certainly not part of the standard five step grieving process," Sara replies.

"It's the James Bond three step grieving process! Step one is revenge where you quell your rage in the blood of those responsible. Step two is hallucinations. Step three is guilt... and probably alcohol or something," I inform her.

"What about acceptance?" Sara asks.

"What is there to accept, Sara...? WHAT IS THERE TO ACCEPT ABOUT ANY OF THIS!? She was three years old... only three... she had thousands of possible futures ahead of her, but she was dead in every one that involved me... I was just too blind to see it... I should've turned her over to Carla the moment I found her, but I didn't... and why didn't I do it? Because I had some warped notion of becoming her father? Because I thought I could keep her safe? Or was it because I needed some form of atonement, or redemption, or just an excuse to keep living...? Any way you slice it, all I really did was add to my body count... I'm done here," I state and start to strain the handcuffs binding my left arm.

"REI! NATASHA!" Sara shouts.

Cheza and Natasha stride into the room wearing white nurse's outfits that have red crosses on the caps. They walk over to me with smiles on their faces.

"Hellooooooo Nurse!" I exclaim.

They respond by zapping me with Tasers.

"We'll let you go when I say we're done, Cole. Not before then," Sara explains.

"What do you guys want from me!?" I demand.

"We just want you to get better, Cole... We want you to forgive yourself... You're destroying yourself, and it pains me to see you like this," Natasha quietly says with tears in her eyes.

"Tasha..." I softly respond.

" _You know you're a cute little heartbreaker. Foxy. You know you're a sweet little lover maker. Foxy,"_ my phone rings from the bedside table.

"That's Yui," I announce.

"Seriously?" Cheza asks, most likely in regards to my ringtone, as she picks up my phone. "Hey Yui, Cole can't come to the phone right now. He's a little... tied up at the moment."

"Okay, can you tell him that I was able to find some information on the Templars? A Tokyo Yakuza outfit has recently been equipped with the weapons that Cole said were used by the Templars," I hear Yui say.

_Kill Bill_ -esque fantasies begin dancing through my head: epic katana battles with breakdance fighting causing severed limbs, blood, and screaming.

"*Sigh* I'll cut him free and we'll meet you at the temple in a little while," Cheza reluctantly replies and hangs up.

"Don't think that this is over, Cole," Cheza sternly says as she unlocks the cuffs.

"Come on, Cheza. Don't be like that! This will be fun!" I exclaim, looking forward to my impending sword battle with Japanese gangsters.

...

Chapter 16: Dream Crusher

[November 7th]

"Not one... Not a single one! There isn't a single katana on any of them! Where is my epic swordfight!? This is bullshit!" I exclaim while looking through a pair of binoculars from a rooftop located half a mile away from the compound of the traditionally styled Japanese mansion.

The curved tile roof has been modified with a walkway that has a dozen soldiers with MP7A1 submachine guns patrolling the perimeter of it. The covered wooden porch that borders the house has another dozen armed soldiers patrolling along it. There are another two dozen armed soldiers patrolling the walled perimeter and yard of the property. Guards occasionally come out of the Shoji doors on the side of the house to relieve the patrolling soldiers. One very noticeable thing stands out about all these soldiers: their red auras.

"I'm going to go talk to them and see if I can't ask them to bring in some swords to fight me with," I say as I stand up on the rooftop.

"You will do no such thing!" Cheza exclaims as she grabs my left hand and pulls me back down. "We finally found these guys, so you are going to wait until we can confirm that the leader is there before you go all rampage on their asses."

"Fine... I'm going to have to scan the leader's memories, but it would be suicidal to remain at the house and do it. Any suggestions, Yui?" I ask.

"Why not bring them back to this rooftop?" Yui suggests.

"Yeah, I suppose that will work," I reply.

"Hey Cole, a car just pulled up and most of the soldiers have lined up in two rows leading to the house. I think the boss is finally back," Natasha tells me while looking through the scope of her silenced M110 sniper rifle with a twenty round box magazine to my right. With her armored suit on, she isn't too noticeable in the dead of night. I didn't want to bring her along, but she wouldn't take no for an answer and Cheza was on her side so I eventually caved.

"Two men and a woman are getting out of the car and the men have positioned themselves on each side of the woman," Natasha reports.

"The woman is most likely the boss," Yui comments.

"One of the men has a sword, Cole," Natasha says with a smirk.

"Sweet. When they're almost to the house, take your shots. I'll run down there while they're panicking and snatch the boss. See you guys in a bit!" I exclaim and jump over the edge of the roof, down to a deserted alley.

(Master, you will not be able to walk after a fall from this height)

What? I quickly touch my triskele as the ground comes rushing up to greet me. I port back to the rooftop, only to have both of my ankles snap like twigs.

"FUCK! SHIT! DAMMIT! OUCH MOTHERFUCKER!" I yell and cough up some blood as the price for porting a distance less than a hundred meters.

(Porting does not change your body's physics, Master. Next time, aim for a softer target like snow or water... actually, you'd still be fucked... Next time, take a deep breath and port into space, or better yet, don't jump off of anymore buildings)

"COLE!" the girls all shout and rush over to me.

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING!?" Cheza screams.

"I OBVIOUSLY THOUGHT I COULD MAKE IT!" I shout back.

"Why did you think that you would be fine after falling over one hundred feet?" Natasha asks.

"Well, Superman can leap tall buildings in a single bound, which involves falling the height of a building, so why not me?" I ask, trying to keep my voice in check.

"Because Superman can fly," Natasha replies.

"Not in the original comics. Fuuuuuuuuuuck!" I exhale in pain.

(Master, I am unable to attend to your injuries as they are)

"You don't mean..."

(I'm afraid so)

"Fuck me sideways. Okay. Cheza, Natasha, I need you two to reset my ankles, preferably at the same time" I tell them and pull out my wallet in preparation.

"On three, okay Cheza?" Natasha says. Cheza nods in response and I place my wallet betwixt my teeth. "One, two, three!" *Crack*

"MMMMMMM!" I scream, muffled by leather.

"So what do we do now?" Yui asks.

"Natasha, cover Cheza as she goes down and nabs the leader. Cheza, bring the leader back here and I'll port all of us to someplace more secure," I plan.

"Fine..." Cheza pointedly replies as she walks to the stairwell.

"Cole, can you come spot for me?" Natasha asks.

"Sure, just give me a sec," I reply and painfully drag myself over to the edge of the roof as I feel my internal organs realigning.

"Cole? Can you see what I'm doing?" Cheza thinks as I get an image of her walking down the stairs. "Can you see what I'm doing here? It's called using the stairs, like an intelligent person."

"Yeah, yeah, just be careful, alright?" I reply.

"HA! That is the single most hypocritical thing you've ever said to me," Cheza responds as she walks down the street towards the compound.

Cheza approaches the main entrance and the two soldiers standing guard go on alert. Natasha quickly drops both of them without alerting the other guards. Natasha starts taking out the soldiers on the walkway with precise headshots as Cheza enters the compound. The guards suddenly take notice of their missing/dead compatriots and floodlights illuminate the compound. A score of soldiers comes out of the house and engages Cheza as Natasha takes out the remaining soldiers on the walkway. Cheza sprints forward and quickly stabs one of the soldiers twice, freezing him. Cheza vaults over the frozen soldier and scissor cuts through the neck of the soldier behind him. A guard sweeps around behind her and begins firing at her. The bullets are unable to penetrate her suit, but that doesn't make me any less worried.

"Tasha, Cheza needs help!" I think.

"I'm a bit busy keeping the other soldiers on the grounds from ganging up on her!" Natasha exclaims.

"Relax, Cole. I've got this," Cheza thinks. A large fog bank suddenly surrounds the compound.

"Cheza, what's going on!?" I ask.

"I'm simply utilizing the sixty percent humidity in the air by super cooling it to create fog," Cheza replies.

"And now I can't see anything..." Natasha comments.

"Here, I can still see their auras," I reply and Natasha hands the M110 over.

I peer through the scope and start taking shots at the guards as I receive an image from Cheza in my closed left eye. She dodges around the soldiers and enters the compound. She sprints down the hall and throws a Shoji partition open, finding no one there so she moves on. The next door she throws open has the two men and the woman who exited the car earlier. One of the men draws his katana and meets Cheza halfway. Cheza parries the guard's slash as the second bodyguard moves around to her side while bringing up an MP7A1.

Cheza slams her foot into the ground and an ice spear erupts from the wall behind the second bodyguard, shooting through the back of his neck and out through his mouth. The katana wielding bodyguard reaches back with his left hand and pulls a Glock 22 .40 S&W pistol from his waistband. I'm surprised that he can even hold onto the sword at all when his hand is freezing. Taking a hand off his katana turns out to be the wrong move because now Cheza is able to catch the katana in the gap of a Synergistic blade and disarm him before bringing her other blade through the guard's neck before he can raise his gun.

With the bodyguards eliminated, Cheza rushes over to the boss, throws the lady over her shoulder, and runs out. The boss lady starts shouting as Cheza blows past the soldiers, causing everyone to start following Cheza while I provide covering fire until the M110 mag runs dry. Cheza runs back to the building, up the stairs, and onto the rooftop.

"We should probably go now," Cheza announces over the screaming of the boss lady whilst slightly out of breath.

Natasha quickly packs up her shit and the girls all grab my arm as I touch my Haglaz rune. When we port into Jason's room, the boss is still screaming so I cover her mouth with my left hand and force my blood down her throat. She passes out a few second later.

"See you guys in a little while," I say before my eyes close.

****

I find myself floating in a dark space once again and I can honestly say that I'm getting sick of this shit.

(Master, I figured that you would want to see this first hand)

"Alright, let's get this over with. What do you have?"

The world flashes white before showing me an image of the room in the mansion where Cheza found the boss lady. Standing in front of me/the boss lady is a familiar looking man that is about a foot taller than the boss lady with white hair and grey-blue eyes. Jack Evari, wearing his signature all-black suit and maroon tie, starts speaking Japanese for a moment before the translation kicks in.

"—will come on Wednesday. With the new enhancement, I want you to start hunting the kitsune. Killing a few of them should be enough to grab his attention. I'll be in touch," Jack Evari says and the scene fades out.

"Are there any more like that?" I ask once I return to floating in the darkness.

(No, there aren't any more memories with Jack Evari)

"Well was that the entire memory? What about introductions or anything?"

(Yes, I found the lack of introductions to be odd as well. It's almost as if this woman had her memories erased)

Who in the fuck is Jack Evari?

****

I come to in Jason's room to the sound of Yui, Cheza, and Natasha chatting on the couch.

"So then I sat down on his face while Natasha was doing her thing," Cheza says.

"Okay! This conversation is over! How did you guys even get on that topic?" I inquire.

"Cole! Did you learn anything?" Cheza innocently asks.

"I saw the face of the man behind it and he's someone I sort of know," I reply.

"Really? Who?" Yui asks.

"A man I only know by the name of Jack Evari. He was giving orders to the head of the US Templars, but that's all I know about him. I've scanned the only two people I know of that have met him, and I still don't have any clue as to his whereabouts or even who he really is. Even Ryuji hasn't been able to find anything on him..." I answer.

"So what do we do now?" Yui questions.

"We get on with our lives. That woman was directly responsible for the deaths for your sister and your friends so the murders will stop," I tell her somewhat harshly.

Tears well up in Yui's eyes as she glares at me. I walk over and hoist the boss lady over my shoulder and grab Yui's arm as I touch my Haglaz rune. I drop her and the boss lady off at the fox statue at the shrine in Kyoto before touching my Haglaz rune to port back, but nothing happens due to the time limitation.

"Sayonara, Yui," I give my final words of farewell and start walking away. I continue walking for a minute before touching my Haglaz and porting back to Jason's room.

"Cole! What in the hell was that about!?" Cheza angrily demands.

"I was just separating her from my life so that she doesn't end up dead because of me. Jack Evari obviously has some sort of vendetta against me and I'm the reason he wanted the kitsune killed in the first place. For what exactly? I'm not sure," I respond.

After ordering the attack on Natasha, and I'm pretty sure that he was referring to me when he said that killing a few kitsune would draw 'him' out, a vendetta seems likely.

"You still didn't have to act like a dick," Cheza proclaims.

I don't bother to say that being a dick was the only way to have Yui avoid me permanently. Reyna barges into the room and thankfully interrupts us.

"We're going dress shopping tomorrow!" Reyna announces.

Oh, boy!

...

Chapter 17: 27 Dresses/ Circles of Hell

[November 8th] Day 1, 1100 hours:

"This isn't so bad. I honestly thought dress shopping would be way worse, but these couches are pretty comfy!" Jason exclaims.

"I know, right!? I was expecting blood curdling amounts of agony, but this is more like judging a costume contest or something," I reply.

"What do you guys think of this one?" Cheza asks while Natasha moves the dressing curtain aside. The one hundred eighty degrees of mirror behind her makes me dizzy for a moment as I look at the swathes of white lace on Reyna.

"I like it!" Jason says.

"Me too," I agree.

"I'm not so sure, let me try on _one more_ ," Reyna says and shuts the curtain.

(Bumbum)

"What?"

Reyna opens up the curtain ten minutes later and appears to be wearing the same dress.

"I thought you were going to try on another dress?" I inquire.

"I am. This one is more traditional lace," Reyna replies.

"This one is okay," Jason says.

"Really? I kinda like this one... let me try on another," Reyna says and shuts the curtain.

(Bumbum Bum Bumbum)

"Airi, what are you doing?"

(Providing foreshadowing background music)

"Huh?"

(You'll see, Master)

Dress #3:

Jason and I: "I like this one!"

Reyna: "I'm not so sure... I'm going to try on _one more._ "

Dress #4:

Jason and I: "That one's not so great."

Reyna: "I like this one... well, I do have a few more to try on."

Dress #5:

Jason and I: "This one is alright."

Cheza: "Okay, let's start rating these on a scale of one through five."

"Why not one through ten?" I ask.

"Because that's too many numbers!" Cheza replies.

Reyna: "Okay, I give this one a two."

Cheza: "Really? I'd give it at least a two point five."

Natasha: "I say a three point five. Judges' ruling?"

Jason and I: "Three."

"So this dress averages out to a two point seven five," Cheza says while typing on her phone.

Dress #6:

Jason and I: "Four."

Reyna: "One point five."

Cheza: "Two point two five.

Natasha: "Two point five."

"Okay, if you guys are going to use decimals, then just rate it on a scale of one through ten!" I exclaim.

"Because that's too many numbers to choose from!" the girls all exclaim.

"By using decimals, you have the same amount numbers to choose from, if not more!" I retort.

"Okay, so this dress gets a three point oh five," Cheza says, completely ignoring me as Natasha shuts the curtain again.

"Hey bro, have you noticed how every dress that we like, the girls rank lower?" Jason whispers.

"Yeah, I did pick up on that. Let's try some reverse psychology on the next one," I reply and we wait for the next dress.

Dress #7:

I like this dress so I look over at Jason and give him a curt nod and he returns it.

"One," I say.

"Five," Jason says simultaneously.

"Three," the girls all say and shut the curtain.

"What happened to reverse psychology?" I whisper.

"That's what I was doing. I told them what I really thought of it so they would think I thought the opposite and would judge it higher," Jason explains.

"What? That's not reverse psychology. That's... something else entirely. Just say the opposite of what you think and we should be good," I reply.

...

[November 10th] Day 3, 1000 hours:

Jason and I: "Five."

The Girls: "Two."

"Okay, it is apparent that our opinions don't actually matter," I announce.

"What makes you think that?" Cheza asks.

"For the past two days, we've been tricking you guys into rating the dresses we like higher because you guys go in the opposite direction of whatever we say!" Jason exclaims.

"What!? You guys! We just wanted your honest opinions!" Reyna replies.

"You want my honest opinion? Fine!" Jason responds.

(There's a storm a comin')

After two days of dress shopping, we are both mentally exhausted so I know something bad is coming even without Airi's warning, but I'm not quite quick enough to stop this impending disaster.

"That mermaid-style dress makes you look like a manatee that has been gorging itself on deep-fried fish slathered in chocolate!" Jason exclaims, not holding back at all.

I pinch my eyes shut and start shaking my head as all three girls glare at him. Jason's eyes grow wide as his mind comprehends what he just said to the four weeks pregnant mother of his child. Cheza forms an ice dagger and hands it to Reyna, who swiftly throws it into Jason's stomach.

"AUGH!" Jason shouts as the curtain slams shut.

"FUCK! How do you deal with this happening on a regular basis!?" Jason screams.

"Just wait. I still have to pull it out. On three. One, two, three!" I announce and yank the dagger out of his stomach with my right hand before quickly covering the wound with my left hand to form a seal with my blood.

"SHIT! DAMN THIS HURTS!" Jason yells.

"I know, bro. I know. So what did we learn?" I ask like I'm talking to a child.

"Our opinions don't matter. OUR OPINIONS DON'T MATTER!" Jason shouts hysterically.

"Poor newbies. I remember when I first figured it out. It is okay. It does get better. Just remember that your real opinions don't matter... but your fake ones do. Tell them what they want to hear, and you're golden," an old man says while passing by.

"Thank you! Thank you, wise sage!" Jason exclaims, cracking slightly.

...

[November 11th] Day 4, 1300 hours:

"Alright so we need to have all the bridesmaids' dresses be halter tops since Naia won't be able to wear any other kind of dress without severe modifications and it would look stupid if the dresses aren't all the same," Reyna says.

"Of course!" Cheza replies.

"Definitely," Natasha agrees.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the store...

"I'VE GOT IT! We're obviously stuck in a time loop and if we don't do something, this will just keep repeating itself for eternity!" Jason exclaims.

"Of course! It's so simple! So how do we stop it?" I ask.

"I'm going to try this," Jason says and takes off in a full speed sprint, straight into the marble wall. Jason rebounds off the wall as blood flies from his face.

"Did it work?" Jason groans while blood dribbles from his mouth.

"Hey boys, we're still going to be at least another hour," Cheza comes over and informs us.

"No," I tell Jason.

...

[November 12th] Day 5, 1100 hours:

"I found the door, but it wouldn't open... it just wouldn't open! No matter how hard I pulled on the door!" Jason hysterically exclaims.

"It must've been locked... The key out of here must be behind my eye! Cole, take this spoon and use it to get the key out from behind my eye!" Jason tells me.

"Where did you get a spoon?" I ask.

"I found it yesterday. I've been using it to try and tunnel out of this hell hole, but marble is much harder than a metal spoon. Now hurry up and gouge my eye out!" Jason demands.

"I'm not going to gouge your eye out, bro," I reply.

"Fine! I'll do it then!" Jason shouts and brings the spoon to his eye.

"No! There is no key behind your eye! This is not a SAW movie!" I exclaim as I grab the spoon and try to wrestle it away from him.

"That is not the way to get out of this! We just have to serve our time," I tell him and Jason breaks down into tears.

"I know, bro. I know," I say as I comfort him.

...

[November 13th] Day 6, 1400 hours:

As I'm banging my head against the marble wall, Cheza comes over and smacks me.

"Would you stop that!? All that banging is giving me a headache! Just go into the corner and talk to the spoon with Jason!" Cheza orders.

In the corner, Jason is rocking back and forth while holding the spoon with both hands.

"The cat's in the cradle with the silver spoon. Little boy blue and the man in the moon. When you comin' home, Daddy? Don't know when, but we'll get together then, son. The cat's in the cradle with the silver spoon..." Jason keeps repeating while rocking back and forth. I walk over to the corner and sit down beside him.

"The cat's in the cradle with the silver spoon..." I join in while rocking back and forth.

...

[November 14th] Day 7, 1000 hours:

Jason and I are both lying in the corner in the fetal position.

"CT, I don't think I'm going to make it," Jason rasps out.

"Don't say that... we can make it through this, together," I reply.

"Tell Reyna that I still love her... and I want her to name our child after Neil Patrick Harris..." Jason whispers as his eyes slowly shut.

"Jason... Jason...? JASOOOOON!" I shout.

"Hey guys, are you ready to go?" Reyna asks and Jason's eyes pop open.

"You three are done? It's over? We're free?" I ask.

"Cole, quit being so melodramatic and let's go," Cheza replies.

"We did it, CT! We made it through this!" Jason exclaims as he hugs me and we both start crying. We're weeping into each other's arms when we kiss each other.

****

"AH!" I scream awake to find myself spooning a mannequin, with my leg thrown over its hip. I look around and realize that it's not over... that I'm still trapped in this nightmare...

Where did my clothes go?

...

[November 14th] Day 7, 1700 hours:

"So what happened next?" the investigator taking a statement asks.

"Well, Jason found a container of Play-Doh underneath one of the racks..." I tell the investigator while tightening the security blanket around my shoulders. "And I used it to create a directional plastic explosive with my blood. I rolled it into tubing, set it up on the outer wall, and blew open an exit next to the doors."

"Did it occur to you that the doors weren't locked?" the investigator questions.

"Yes, once on the outside where I had fresh air, it did occur to me that Jason might have been pulling when he should have been pushing," I reply. The investigator writes something in his small note book.

"Please continue," the investigator requests.

"After we saw glorious daylight, we went through the newly created exit and escaped. By this time, Jason had already stripped down to his boxers and tied his shirt around his head to mop up the sweat from his efforts of trying to tunnel through the marble with his spoon. Jason ran through the hole in the wall with his spoon raised above his head while shouting 'FREEEEEDOOOOM!'" I recant.

"And what happened to your clothing?" the investigator asks.

"I honestly don't remember. They either got incinerated in the blast... or I ate them..." I reply.

"Alright, I think I have all we need. Would you like to press charges? After all, what they did to you two was technically psychological torture and unlawful imprisonment," the investigator asks.

"That's alright... we do still love them, after all," I smile at him.

"Well, I still suggest that you get some counseling. I needed extensive therapy after going dress shopping for my sister's wedding. You might also want to ask about Stockholm Syndrome while you're there..." the investigator says.

"Thank you for the suggestion, but I think I just want to go home now," I reply.

"Of course. Prince Jason has already settled to have someone take care of the damages so you are all free to go," the investigator replies.

"Thank you," I say.

The investigator leads me out of the room and down a hall to where Jason is waiting. Jason takes one look at me and snaps his fingers to clothe me. I hand the security blanket back to the investigator before an officer escorts us back to the lock-up for the girls. The girls glare at us as they are led out of the cell and Jason ports all of us back to the palace before the girls explode.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TWO!" Reyna screams.

"WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!?" Cheza shouts.

"We went mildly insane and you want to know what we were thinking? The investigator asked me if I wanted to press charges on you guys for psychological torture and unlawful imprisonment. He seriously asked me that. Do you want to know what I said?" I reply with a snarky tone.

"WHAT!?" the girls angrily scream at me.

"I told him no, because even after all that, Jason and I still love you guys," I tell them after eliminating my snarky tone and their expressions soften immediately. My phone starts ringing and interrupts this wonderful moment. The caller id says it's Tia.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Feros," a gravelly voice says with a light accent that I can't pick up.

"Who is this?" I demand.

"Come to the plateau behind your house in Arizona within the hour and come alone. If you do not, Tlazolteotl's life is forfeit," the male voice responds and then hangs up.

Is this retaliation for the Templar killings? How did they capture Tia?

"Who was that, Cole?" Cheza asks.

"Dunno. Wrong number I guess," I reply.

"So what should we do for dinner?" Jason asks.

"How about you make tacos?" I suggest.

"That sounds good!" Natasha exclaims.

"Alright, I'll get to work! They'll be done in about half an hour," Jason says and heads for the kitchen. Reyna and Natasha exit the room, leaving just one person left.

"Hey Cheza, can you go find Sara? I think I'd like to talk to her," I softly say.

"Sure, Cole. I'll be right back," Cheza gently replies with a satisfied smile on her face and leaves the room.

I quickly slip on my suit, unzip the sleeve, and pull on my holster.

"Hey Cole, did you need to talk to me?" Sara asks as she enters the room, but stops when she sees my battle attire. I give her a half smile and touch my Haglaz rune.

Chapter 18: Dammit! Not Another One!

Upon arriving in the front yard of the house, I hear a blood curdling scream—a feminine blood curdling scream—coming from the plateau. What results is the longest minute of my life as I wait for the time limit to be up before I can port up there. When I arrive, I see two men standing over a smoking and charred-skinned Tia. One of the men has a metal brace on his left leg and that's all I notice before my helmet engages and my arm turns black. I quickly twist open the ring on my left hand and slice my right wrist open when I see the golden auras that surround both men. I've started the formation of my Mu-cutter when they turn around.

"So you must be Feros," the god with the leg brace says.

Judging by his voice, he was the one I talked to on the phone. Both gods are wearing fitted bronze armor cuirasses with leather protecting their legs. The one that addressed me is bald with a goatee and the other is wearing a Spartan style helmet. Both are a few inches taller than me.

"Who are you? What have you done to Tia!?" I demand.

"I am Vulcan, also known as Hephaestus, and this is my brother Mars, also known as Ares," the Roman/Greek god of fire and the forge says before gesturing to the Roman/Greek god of war.

"We've done no worse to her than what you did to our Father!" Mars proclaims and charges at me with a gladius.

I grab the sword with my left hand as it comes in and I try to break it before finding that I'm unable to. Now would be a good time to attack with my Mu-cutter, but I still have no idea what's going on so I hold off.

"What are you talking about?" I ask. Mars delivers a kick to my torso that sends me flying back about twenty feet, taking his gladius with me.

"Don't play dumb! The only person that could've turned our father Jupiter into a husk like that is you!" Mars replies as a spear and a shield appear in his hands.

Mars charges at me again with the spear aimed at my chest. I put my left hand in front of the spear to block it. The force of the blow causes me to spin rapidly as I slice through the top of the shield, following through to his right hand and spear, which was an honest mistake because I was only aiming for his spear.

"AUGH!" Mars screams and jumps back as I hit the ground as the result of spinning so many times. Vulcan snaps his fingers and I'm engulfed in flames. I quickly touch my triskele and port behind Vulcan.

"It looks like he escaped. Well, let's take care of Tlazolteotl and then hunt down anyone Feros cares about, like his girlfriend," Vulcan says before I vertically bisect him and quickly slice the halves into small chunks. The effects of short ranged porting hit me as I vomit blood.

"I'm not losing anyone else. I won't allow it. Even if I have to make an enemy out of the entire Roman/Greek pantheon," I say while slowly walking towards Mars as blood dribbles down the front of my suit from my helmet.

A shining arrow suddenly sticks out of the front of my right kneecap.

"Eh?" is all I have time to say before the arrow explodes, severing my right leg. Mars runs over and kicks my helmeted head so hard that I feel my neck break.

"Now, I'm going to go find your girlfriend and bring her here specifically so you can watch as I rape her while being unable to do anything about it!" Mars angrily shouts.

The Void in me opens up and tells me it's hungry. That bizarre sensation in my eyes occurs as I hold my left arm out and eight black tendrils shoot into Mars. The tendrils drag him over to me when they suddenly move him of their own volition. An arrow appears in Mars's stomach, but doesn't explode.

"DAMMIT APOLLO! Watch where you're shooting!" Mars screams.

Well, that settles who has been shooting at me: none other than the Roman/Greek god of the sun, light, and medicine, who is said to bring disease and death with his arrows.

Since I'm still missing a leg, I know when I should get the fuck out of here, and that time is right about now. I twist my broken neck back into place, being careful of the placement of my Mu-cutter, before dragging myself towards Tia's prone body as I see Apollo's shining form in the night sky as he flies toward me. He fires a second arrow at me when I'm twenty feet from Tia. My tendrils automatically move Mars in the path of the arrow to block it. A third arrow comes in at ten feet, which is also blocked. After an excruciating drag, I finally reach Tia.

"Now just run back home, Feros! I'll make sure to come find you and pay a visit to your girlfriend too!" Mars exclaims before I'm able to touch my Haglaz rune.

Since Mars is quite clearly suicidal, I decide to honor his wishes. My tendrils drag him into me and I quarter him with my Mu-cutter before retracting the tendrils, dropping the chunks of Mars. A fourth arrow comes in as I reach for my Haglaz rune. The arrow looks like it's going to find its mark before it's suddenly diverted by another arrow as I port Tia and myself to Jason's room.

"COLE! WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU AND TIA DOING!?" Cheza screams, seeing nothing but Tia's newly healed and naked form on top of me. I disengage my helmet and notice that Sara is still in the room.

"Airi, is the stump clean enough to make a new leg?"

(I should be able to work with it, Master)

"Sara, I need you to set up a saline drip, please," I request through gritted teeth and clenched eyes as the pain from my leg finally hits me.

"If you're dehydrated from having sex with Tia then just drink some water!" Sara says rather pointedly. I throw up another helping of blood, most likely because I ported again so soon after the short range porting.

"Gods! Would you both pull your heads out of your asses!?" I yell as I move Tia off to the side, displaying my stump and causing both girls to gasp.

"Tia was set on fire and I had my leg blown off so if you could both stop being self-centered bitches for half a second and give me some help, I'd fucking appreciate it!" I shout.

(Brace yourself, Master)

"Wait Airi, not ye—AUGH GODDAMMIT!" I scream as Airi starts forming my new leg.

"FUUUUUUUUUUCKING A! JUST KNOCK ME OUT ALREADY, AIRI!" I shout and my head becomes fuzzy as my eyes close.

...

[November 15th]

I wake up and find myself in Jason's bed, completely naked, with a bag of saline hanging from the bedpost and connected to an IV.

(Healing and leg reconstruction complete, Master. Total time: thirteen hours)

"You know, sixteen years ago, the one thing I promised myself that I would never let happen was that I'd never wake up naked in bed with my little brother..." Tia sighs to my right.

I open my eyes and look over at her. Tia has a sheet covering her from collar bone down, but her skin appears to be fully healed and her hair has even grown back to its usual length.

"Hey Tia, I'm glad you're okay," I tell her.

"Thanks to you. Thank you for rescuing me, Cole," Tia says and I avoid her eyes. After all, it's my fault she was even hurt in the first place.

"So what's the deal with you and Sara?" I ask, trying to change the subject.

"We aren't dating or anything if that's what you're asking. Just chalk up that event to a drunken mistake... Now, how about you tell me what you know?" Tia suggests and I sigh in response.

"Hold on," I tell her as I open up my connection with Cheza.

"Cheza, can you bring everyone in here? I assume everyone wants to know what happened and I only want to explain once," I think.

"Just a second," Cheza replies. A minute later, Cheza, Natasha, Jason, Reyna, and Sara walk into the room.

"So what happened?" Sara asks.

"Tia, would you like to start?" I ask and Tia nods.

"Well, I was captured by Vulcan and Mars and brought to the top of the plateau behind the house where Vulcan set me on fire after calling Cole," Tia says and motions for me to take it away. I had expected her to embellish a bit more...

"I got a call from Tia's phone telling me to come alone to the plateau and that Tia's life was forfeit if I didn't. So I ported to the house, heard her screaming, and ported to the plateau. Tia was unconscious by the time I got there. After brief introductions, Mars charged at me while claiming that I killed his father by turning him into a husk. I assume that he meant in the same fashion as Horus. After a brief engagement with Mars, in which I accidentally cut off his hand, Vulcan set me ablaze so I ported behind him. He started talking about killing Cheza so I hacked him to pieces," I start.

"What do you mean you ported behind him? How far away was he?" Tia interrupts.

"Only about fifty feet. I can port within that one hundred meter limit, but there is a cost. I usually end up vomiting blood and it rearranges my organs when I do it. I've become more adept at healing those injuries since it first happened when I was fighting Veles and Perun," I explain.

"As I made my way towards Mars, a shining arrow appeared in my right knee and then it exploded. Mars kicked me in the face, breaking my neck, before taunting me about how he was planning on raping Cheza. I slipped into the Void around then so I used my tendrils to pull him in. A second arrow was blocked by using Mars as my shield, and I discovered that Apollo was behind the arrows. I dragged myself over to Tia to get us out of there while Mars took two more arrows. Once I reached Tia, Mars swore revenge, which included raping Cheza. He obviously had a death wish so I granted that wish for him before porting here," I recant.

"Wait, when did you kill Jupiter?" Jason asks.

"I didn't," I reply.

"But Jupiter was turned into a husk, like Horus was?" Cheza questions.

"Apparently... I think I might've been set up," I respond.

"By someone that can turn gods into husks like you can?" Sara inquires. I nod in response as the door opens.

"Cole, it seems you have a visitor. We will be waiting in the sitting room," Hel announces, sounding none too pleased, and leaves.

I sit up and move the blankets aside, flashing everyone, but not caring because it isn't like they haven't all seen it before anyway. Upon getting my first look at my new leg, I see that it matches my arm and has five holes along the shin and calf.

"Airi, why would I possibly need to draw blood from my leg?"

(I'm not sure, but it doesn't hurt to have the option, right?)

"I suppose you do have a point."

I grab a pair of cargo shorts and throw them on with a white t-shirt. I just realized that I'll never be able to wear shorts in the human world ever again... sad day. I limp out into the hall, not entirely used to my new leg yet. Cheza comes up behind me, sets my right arm across her shoulders as she wraps her left arm around my waist, and supports me down the hall to the frequently unused sitting room. Waiting in the sitting room with Hel is a tall, bald, pale, man wearing a black suit while smoking a black cigarette that smells of pomegranate and has a silver skull on the filter.

"Cole, allow me to introduce you to Hades, one of the Underworld's Supreme Rulers," Hel introduces.

"Great, somebody else who wants to kill me," I mumble.

"Relax, Mr. Treyfair. I know that you are not responsible for my brother's death. There's even a police report to prove it. I came here to ask for your assistance in finding who killed Jupiter since you know the method that was used to kill him," Hades requests.

"Why do you sound like James Woods?" I inquire.

"Is that really important?" Hades asks.

"Yes, yes it is," I reply.

"We simply have similar voices. I actually did the voice overs for the Disney rendition of me for the Hercules movie. As much as I wanted the credits to read 'Hades as Himself,' Disney said they couldn't do it so we gave credit to James Woods," Hades explains.

"Since I'm interested in who set me up, and since you answered my stupid question, I'll provide my assistance in finding who killed Jupiter... Just keep Apollo away from me. I don't want to have to keep making these things," I say as I knock on my new leg.

"I would also like to inspect the body to see if I can't discern anything that will lead us to the culprit," I add.

"Of course. Would you like to leave now?" Hades asks.

"Where are we headed?" I inquire.

"Mount Olympus," Hades replies.

"Let me go grab my things and we can leave," I say and head down the hall, still limping.

"I'm coming with you, Cole," Cheza says as she catches up.

"Cheza, I don't want you coming with me on this one... it's not safe," I reply.

"Which is exactly why I'm coming," Cheza responds.

"Cheza—" I start to say.

"Cole, you can barely walk. There's no way in hell that I'm letting you go to Mount Olympus alone when three Olympians tried to kill you less than a day ago. And I doubt you will get a warm reception considering that you killed two of them. I'm going, and that's final."

...

Chapter 19: Trofi?

We arrive in a stone gazebo with Greek columns that support a triangular roof. Fluffy white clouds stretch out in all directions. The air here feels cool and wet, but not exactly cold. Cheza and I follow Hades as he walks down a path of solid clouds leading from the gazebo. The sensation of walking on the solid cloud path is similar to walking in snow, but there's no crunch with each step. I limp along, still working out the kinks in the new leg as jolts of pain course up from just above my knee. We walk up over a hill and a small town comes into view. There are dozens of buildings that all look like small versions of the Parthenon.

The path leads into the center of town where there is a gigantic fountain. The fountain is roughly fifty feet in diameter and two stories tall with three levels. There are rainbows that are shooting out of the top level before arching straight down to the base while the other two levels just have water cascading out of them. A group of naiads are playing in the pool and what appears to be several harpy children are playing around the fountain. The little harpy girls have wings where their arms should be, human torsos and heads, and feathers from the waist down, ending with talons for feet.

The center of this town appears to be some sort of shopping district. There are quite a few demigods around here, along with several seven foot tall Cyclopes and even a centaur, which I keep Cheza the hell away from in case it gets all rapey. Everyone seems to be wearing white swathes of cloth, some that look like togas and others that would look like white ponchos if it weren't for the golden cord tied around their waists that keep the front and back together. However, none of the naiads or harpies appear to be clothed. The naiads I can understand because they're water elementals, but what's up with the harpies?

Hades stops in front of the fountain and I feel something nudging my right thigh. I look down and see a naked Addie, like how she was before I gave her a bath.

"Trofi?" Addie asks and I just stare back at her in shock.

"Trofi? Trofi?" Addie repeats and the illusion dissolves, leaving a naked little harpy girl behind.

"Trofi?" the harpy girl asks.

(She is asking for food)

"I don't have any food," I smile at her and pat her head while trying to withhold my tears.

The harpy girl runs off and I feel Cheza's cool hand entwine in mine. This is getting bad... how did I confuse a harpy with Addie? They're more than fifty percent bird for Void's sake!

"Iris, I need you to open up the gate to the palace," Hades says to the fountain. A rainbow beams down from the sky about ten feet to the right of our position.

"Thank you," Hades adds and walks into the rainbow, motioning for us to follow.

Cheza and I walk through the rainbow and I feel the ground shift. We appear in the courtyard of a glittering palace that towers over us. A menagerie of gods surround us as my helmet automatically engages.

"Ah, Pluto, my brother. I see you've brought our brother's killer," a god with a trident says. He must be Neptune/Poseidon, Roman/Greek god of the seas.

"No, I didn't. I brought Feros to help us find our brother's killer," Hades replies.

"But he's the one that did it!" Neptune exclaims.

"No, he didn't. There's a police report from Niflheim and dozens of witnesses saying that he was in Niflheim at the only time Jupiter could have been killed," Hades defends.

"If he isn't guilty then why did he kill Mars and Vulcan when they confronted him?" Neptune replies.

"Probably because those two idiots attacked him first and Feros defended himself, isn't that right, Diana?" Hades asks.

A Mediterranean woman that is five and a half feet tall with light brown hair and light green eyes, steps forward. She is wearing a brown leather skirt and a matching vest-like garment that shows her midriff.

"That is correct. I was observing the altercation, and the way I saw it, Mars attacked Feros before he even had any idea what was going on. After Vulcan tried to burn Feros to a crisp, he said that they were going to find and kill those Feros cared about, just before he was killed from behind. My brother shot an arrow through Feros's right knee and blew off his leg, at which point Mars kicked his head and proceeded to add insult to injury. Feros shot eight tentacle-like things out of his left arm to grab Mars and pull him closer. Apollo fired at Feros and Feros used Mars as a shield while he crawled towards Tlazolteotl with the intent to retreat. Once Feros reached Tlazolteotl, Mars promised Feros that he would find and rape Feros's girlfriend, whom I assume is that woman there. At this point, Feros killed Mars and tried to port away while my brother took one last shot at him, which I deflected with one of my own arrows because it was obvious to me that this entire altercation was their fault and that Feros was innocent," Diana/Artemis, Roman/Greek goddess of the hunt, recapitulates.

"Besides, can anyone honestly say they were sad to hear of Mars's demise?" Diana adds. A very attractive blonde woman wearing a toga raises her hand as she glares at me.

"Venus, your vote doesn't count because you can't keep your legs shut," Diana responds

"Still better than you, little miss eternally a virgin!" Venus/Aphrodite, the Roman/Greek goddess of love and beauty, replies.

"I'd rather be a virgin than a whore!" Diana exclaims.

"No, it's obvious that you'd rather just dress like one with your little cock-tease outfit," Venus retorts.

"That's enough, girls. Well, if Feros is here to help, then I suppose he should see the body first of all. Alright, everyone, go about your business," a blonde, woman that is five foot nine with grey eyes and a golden crown on her head says. I wonder how these goddesses are blonde despite being Greek... maybe it has something to do with their Disney portrayals.

All of the gods obey and disperse, except for Venus, who walks toward me.

"Even if you didn't kill Jupiter, I still won't forgive you for killing Mars... and Vulcan too, I guess," Venus says while glaring at me. She guesses? Wasn't Vulcan her husband? Venus's eyes flick to Cheza and give her a once over.

"Is this your fiancée?" Venus asks and I step between her and Cheza.

"Yes she is," I cautiously reply. Venus snaps her fingers.

"Not anymore," Venus says with a smug smile on her face.

I panic and look at Cheza, who looks to Venus and back to me with a slightly confused face. I turn around and see a perplexed look from Venus. She snaps her fingers again and nothing happens. Her face contorts with anger as she snaps her fingers again.

"THIS IS BULLSHIT! I'm the fucking goddess of love yet I can't make one girl fall out of it!?" Venus screams as she storms off.

"I guess your mother's magic is a bit stronger than hers," Cheza thinks to me with a smile.

"I guess so," I smile back.

It's obvious that whatever makes Cheza love me is stronger than what Venus was trying to do, but what would the outcome have been had Natasha or even Lila been in Cheza's position? If a being has the ability to simply make someone fall out of love, what is love anyway?

"Would you like to go see the body now?" Hades asks.

"Sure. By the way, why don't you go by your Roman name? All the other gods seem to," I inquire.

"I haven't gone by my Roman name since Pluto was demoted as a planet, but that hasn't stopped any of the Olympians from referring to me by my Roman name," Hades somewhat spitefully replies and walks towards the glittering palace.

Cheza and I follow Hades through the twenty-foot tall doors and into the palace foyer. Hades takes a left down a glittering corridor and continues straight for about a hundred yards until we reach a door leading to the exterior. We exit the palace and walk through an elaborate rose garden that leads to a bunch of columns arranged in a ring that are connected by a dome roof. Inside is the body of the god I met in Rome last month. Jupiter's body is resting on a marble pedestal, surrounded by wreathes of flowers as a beam of sunlight shines through a hole in the cupola and illuminates his body. The entire scene would be serene, if it weren't for the giant gaping hole in Jupiter's chest.

"Where was he when he was killed?" I ask as I inspect Jupiter's gaping chest hole.

Now that I'm up close, something is very apparent to me. When I killed Horus, I had to crack open his chest like a lobster before I reached in with my left hand and disintegrated the golden mass that is inside of all gods. However, Jupiter's ribcage is not cracked open or even cut open. Jupiter's exposed ribcage is melted in exactly the same fashion that the back of Horus's chest cavity was.

"He was found in a back alley in Rome yesterday by Juno, Neptune, and I. We all felt it when one of our fellow heads of the pantheon died, so we came as soon as we were able to," Hades replies as I pull out my phone and take a few pictures of Jupiter from different angles.

"I'd like to ask Juno a few questions in private. Can you arrange that?" I inquire.

"Yes, I'll go speak with her now," Hades replies.

"Okay, I'll wait here," I tell him.

Hades nods in response and walks off. I'm about to feed some of my blood into Jupiter's mouth when something occurs to me.

"Hey Airi, am I able to scan gods?"

(No, Master)

"Shit... well, there goes that idea... wait, can you see Jupiter's memories like you could with Inti's?"

(No, because Jupiter didn't end up in the same place as Inti. He was absorbed)

I'm about to ask what she means when my mind jumps to the instant I killed Horus and how the black smoke that I turned his golden mass into appeared to go into my arm. Based on the melted edges of Jupiter's chest cavity and the lack of melting to the cracked open section of Horus's ribcage, it's almost as if the golden mass in Jupiter was turned into smoke before his chest was opened.

"Airi, when my arm is black—when I'm channeling the Void—what exactly is happening?"

(Your arm becomes a piece of the Void, Master)

"So it's like Jason's blade and Horus's mace?"

(In the same way that carbon is diamond. One is simply a derivative of the other, nothing more)

"So while my arm can disintegrate the golden mass inside of gods, Jason's blade would never been able to?"

(Correct)

"Technically speaking, would it be possible to create a weapon capable of absorbing the cores in the same fashion as my arm?"

(Technically yes, but not for one such as yourself, Master)

I think I might've just figured out how Jupiter was killed... wait a second, can that golden mass even be stabbed? I recall Cheza stabbing through Horus's chest with ice spears, but did those ever make contact with the golden mass, or did the core somehow contort out of the way?

"My brother said that you needed to speak with me?" the blonde woman with grey eyes from earlier inquires while appearing beside Cheza and I.

"Can I stab you in the chest?" I ask.

"What!?" Juno replies.

"Sorry, that wasn't what I needed to ask. My first question is: what was the relationship between Jupiter and Hades was like?" I question as Juno looks at me warily and I pull out my phone to open the notes app.

"Amicable," Juno replies simply.

"Okay... And that between him and Neptune?" I inquire after typing Juno's response.

"Also amicable," Juno answers.

"Alright... and what was the relationship between you and your husband like?" I ask.

"We loved each other," Juno responds.

"Right... Well, I have just one last question. I studied mythology quite a bit when I was younger and I was wondering how much of it is the truth?" I question.

"A great deal of Roman mythology is accurate, while Greek mythology is mostly accurate," Juno says.

"Like the details of the relationship between you and your husband? From what I remember, there was a lot of adultery that you didn't approve of. I also remember quite a few instances where you are characterized by jealousy and vengeance," I reply.

"Are you implying that I had something to do with my husband's death?" Juno pointedly asks.

"What? Me? Nooo—yes, that is exactly what I'm implying," I reply.

"I loved my husband!" Juno defends.

"Which is exactly why you killed him! He just kept cheating on you, and cheating on you until you finally snapped! You couldn't take it any longer so you killed him, didn't you!? DIDN'T YOU!?" I accuse and Juno breaks down into tears.

"Easy there, Feros. Juno was with me when Jupiter was killed," Diana says.

"Really? I was so sure she was the one behind it too..." I reply.

"Why?" Diana asks.

"Because—..." why had I been so ready to believe Juno did it when really none of the evidence suggests that?

"I guess it was simply because she's a woman," my statement garners dirty looks from the three women present.

"Hey, don't look at me like that! Blame my life experiences, one in particular in which I was stabbed after a perceived cheating by Cheza! And that wasn't even real! It just wasn't much of a stretch for me to believe that after cheating dozens of times, Jupiter might get the equivalent of dozens of stabs in return!" I explain. The women just continue to glare at me.

"Well, I think I'm done for today. I'll continue the investigation tomorrow," I say as I grab Cheza's hand and walk past Diana and Juno.

"Hold on, you're going to need this to access the palace," Juno venomously says and hands me a golden coin of a mountain with a ring of clouds at the summit that is roughly three inches in diameter.

"Thank you," I reply and continue walking.

We head through the palace and to the courtyard where we came in. Cheza and I stand there for a moment, but nothing happens.

"Umm, Iris?" I ask while holding the coin up in the air. A rainbow appears and I drag Cheza through it. We touch down next to the now-deserted fountain and head back to the stone gazebo/gate via the cloud pathway.

"Am I really the reason you thought Juno was guilty?" Cheza quietly asks as we walk.

"No... well, maybe. It was also because the spouse is often responsible in human murder cases so why should it be any different with gods?" I reply.

We reach the gate and I touch my triskele to port us to the house in Arizona, not being able to port directly to the Underworld.

"Yeah, I suppose that makes sense... and I'm, uh, sorry for stabbing you..." Cheza quietly apologizes.

"Don't worry about it. I still love you, regardless of what you do," I tell her.

I give Cheza a quick kiss before remembering my internal conflict about love. How does Venus make someone fall out of love? Does she simply make the person seem unattractive to the victim or does she mess with the brain's chemicals that are responsible for giving the feeling of love? I wonder why the girls see me as attractive...

"What are you thinking about?" Cheza asks.

"I don't see why Natasha is in love with me, or Lila for that matter. I mean, I'm pretty average looking, I don't think this has anything to do with money, and it's not like I'm making panties drop everywhere I go..." I say.

"Cole, every girl loves a hero, and we all have a genetic predisposition to like bad boys. You're both. You saved Lila when she was kidnapped and saved Natasha from marrying an asshole: hero. You have an air of danger about you because of your impulsive, thrill-seeking behavior and because, well, you kill gods: bad boy," Cheza explains. Is it really that simple? I touch my Haglaz rune and port us to Niflheim.

"Hey you two. Did everything go alright?" Tia asks from the couch when we port into Jason's room.

"Hey Tia, I was just about to go look for you!" I announce as I walk towards the couch. She's wearing jeans and a burgundy tank top, which won't quite work...

"What's up?" Tia inquires as she sets down her magazine and stands up. I quickly grab her tank top with my left hand and rip it off.

"Cole?" Tia asks with confusion in her eyes.

I bring my Sic dagger from behind my back and proceed to stab her in the chest, betwixt the ribs beneath her right breast as Tia yelps in pain. I pull the Sic dagger out and watch as the golden mass in Tia's chest heals just before her skin does. Then Cheza tackles me from the side and starts repeatedly punching me in the face.

"WHAT IN THE HELL HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU!?" Cheza screams during her flurry of punches.

"Chezarei, how is he supposed to explain while you're punching him in the face?" Tia asks and Cheza stops punching me.

"Well, she did throw a knife through my neck last year!" I exclaim and Cheza starts punching me again.

"AHHHH! WHY DO I PUT UP WITH YOU!?" Cheza screams rhetorically before her punching stops.

Her words are concerning to me because if Cheza stops to think about it, she'd realize that the reason she puts up with me is because she has no other choice...

"I needed to see if I could penetrate the golden mass in Tia's chest and I decided that ripping her shirt off and stabbing her was a better alternative than cutting her chest open and stabbing her," I explain.

"Thanks for that!" Tia exclaims.

"Why did you need to do it in the first place!?" Cheza demands.

"To confirm a suspicion on how Jupiter died. Now all I have to find out is the 'why' and the 'who'... and the 'where' is the 'what' because leaving this weapon floating around is not at all safe," I reply.

"Rei? Why were you screaming?" Sara asks as she walks in the room.

"Never mind, I don't really want to know," Sara says while shutting the door behind her as she leaves after seeing Cheza straddling me and Tia topless.

"Well I'm tired so I think that sleep would be a good thing," I say and Cheza gets off of me.

"Alright, see you both tomorrow!" Tia says while heading for the door.

"Goodnight Tia. Sorry about your tank top and the whole stabbing you thing," I reply.

"Don't worry about it. Now we're even. I'll just go see Jason and have him snap me up a fresh set of clothing. Later!" Tia exclaims and walks out of the door.

Cheza and I get ready for bed and go to sleep.

****

Chapter 20: Number Seven

"DADDY!" Addie screams while running towards me, her tail wagging with excitement through her skirt.

She jumps towards me and I hold my arms out to catch her, noticing too late the wicked looking black dagger in my hand. The dagger sinks hilt-deep into her chest.

"Daddy?" Addie struggles to ask as she coughs up some blood, confusion plastered across her features.

I collapse to my knees in horror at what I've done while cradling her body and unable to decide if I need to pull the knife out or leave it in when her body turns into black smoke. The smoke is sucked into the dagger like it's a vacuum before the dagger drops to the tile floor without a sound. I grasp the dagger with my left hand and stare at it.

"Give her back... giver her back..." I say as I beat the dagger against the floor.

"GIVE HER BACK TO ME!" I scream and my arm flushes black as I slam the dagger with enough force to crack the flooring and create a small crater. The dagger shatters and the shards get absorbed into my arm, causing ripples in the surface of my arm as though it were made of liquid.

"AHHHH!" I scream as my arm feels like it's on fire.

****

[November 16th]

"Cole!" Cheza shakes me awake. My arm is in the process of fading back to silver as I open my eyes.

"I'm okay... let's go back to bed," I tell her while beating down my panic as I see that it's only 4am.

Cheza gives me a concerned look for a moment before snuggling into my right side. I spend the next forty-five minutes trying to sleep while Cheza quietly snores. Finally having had enough, I gently lift Cheza's arm off of my chest and scoot out of bed without waking her. I slip out of the room and head into the kitchen.

I'll have breakfast, maybe read for a few hours, and then continue my investigation on Mount Olympus. I think my next step is talking to Neptune to get his take on things. I should ask what the situation was like when they first arrived at the scene of the crime. Actually, I probably should have asked Juno that question before making her cry... Apologizing is most likely a good thing in this situation, but how...?

Chocolate cake.

It's the answer to all of life's problems, so why not this one too?

I head to the pantry to see what they have by way of cake mix, only to find that there isn't anything resembling it. I touch my Haglaz rune and port to the house in Arizona where I wait for a minute before touching my triskele. After appearing at the gate in Tir na nOg, I touch my triskele while thinking of Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix and the accompanying frosting.

(Wouldn't it be easier to just port a complete cake here?)

"Yes, but it's 5am and I have fuck else to do so we're baking a cake."

I touch my triskele, port to the house, wait a minute, and port to Jason's kitchen. I wonder why I can port to anywhere in the Underworld without stopping at a gate... The time consistency must mean that I am passing through a gate, but I've never even been to it. I guess I'll ask Hel the next time I see her. Once in the kitchen, I search around for a cake pan, mixing bowl, eggs, canola oil, and a measuring cup. After preheating the oven to 350, I start mixing the ingredients. The oven beeps as I finish mixing. I pour the batter into the non-stick cake pan, slide it into the oven, and set the timer for forty minutes.

"Why are you baking a cake at five in the morning?" Hel asks while walking into the kitchen wearing a black silk robe.

"I'm making a 'sorry for making you cry and accusing you of murdering your husband/ brother' cake," I reply.

"You made Juno cry?" Hel inquires and I nod.

"By the way, why is it that I can port into the Underworld without first passing through a gate?" I ask.

"You can't. Each district in the Underworld _is_ a gate. You can port into Niflheim from anywhere with your Haglaz rune, but you wouldn't be able to port directly to Mictlan from earth," Hel replies.

"Right... thanks for clearing that up," I say, still confused by the whole thing.

"So how go the wedding plans?" I ask.

"They're going well. I heard you and Jason had a rough time while dress shopping a few days ago," Hel says.

"Yeah, something like that..." I reply, followed by an awkward silence.

"Well good luck with the investigation," Hel responds and walks away.

I take a seat at the bar to wait for the cake to finish baking. The bullet in my stomach protests when I bend the wrong way and reminds me of its presence. I should probably have Sara cut that out if it's going to keep hurting every time I bend a certain way. My right leg starts feeling stiff so I massage my thigh just above where the silver meets my flesh, which is about three inches above where my kneecap used to be.

"New leg giving you some problems?" Sara asks as she sits down next to me.

"Yeah, a few, but the bullet in my stomach is bothering me more," I reply.

"Do you want me to take it out?" Sara inquires.

"Yeah, when I have some time," I say while rubbing my thigh.

"Here," Sara says while pushing my hands away and grabbing my thigh.

"Thanks Sara, that feels great," I tell her as she continues to massage my leg.

"You have to stop losing limbs, Cuz," Sara says with concern.

"Yeah, no kidding... A little harder," I reply and Sara leans in a bit to dig into the muscle.

"Ah! Not so rough!" I exclaim when she hits a tender spot.

"So... do you want to talk about your dream last night?" Sara asks.

"How did you know about that?" I question.

"You're baking a cake at five in the morning for no apparent reason, but more importantly, you're awake at five in the morning," Sara replies.

"I had a dream about Addie in which she jumped into my arms and I ended up stabbing her with a dagger that I hadn't noticed in my hand. It was most likely influenced by what happened yesterday..." I say.

"What happened yesterday?" Sara asks while still massaging my leg.

"I figured out how Jupiter was killed after stabbing Tia..." I tell her.

"Is that all? It seems like there's something else on your mind," Sara suggests.

"*Sigh*... I saw Addie again yesterday. I confused her for a little harpy girl... last time it happened with a kitsune girl, which I can understand because they both have ears and a tail, but a harpy? They're more than half bird..." I explain.

"Cole... you have to forgive yourself. This isn't going to end until you do," Sara says with a pitiful look.

"I know that... I do... I just can't... I can't let her go..." I quietly reply.

The oven's timer goes off and I take the cake out before returning to the bar chair to wait for it to cool. Upon sitting back down, Sara resumes working on my leg.

"Thanks, Sara," I say.

"Of course. I want to help you any way I can," Sara replies.

"Cole? Sara? What are you two doing!?" Cheza exclaims as she starts freaking out.

I can't figure out why she's freaking out until I suddenly get an image of what she's seeing: Sara sitting and facing towards me with her arms angled towards my crotch, the position of her hands being blocked by the counter as she moves both of her arms back and forth while I emanate 'feel good' vibes.

"Oh my gods Oh my gods Oh my gods!" Cheza rapidly says while grasping the sides of her head like she's ripping her hair out.

"YOU'RE COUSINS FOR GODS' SAKES!" Cheza screams as she throws her arms down dramatically.

"Cheza, relax. This isn't what it looks like," I calmly tell her.

(For those of you keeping track at home, this is number seven)

"THEN WHAT IS IT COLE!? BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE SARA IS JERKING YOU OFF UNDER THE TABLE!" Cheza hysterically screams.

"Just come here and see for yourself," I calmly say. Cheza walks around the table and sees Sara's hands on my thigh.

"This still isn't good! Sara's been like a sister to you for such a long—" Cheza cuts herself off.

"Realizing how hypocritical that statement is?" I guess.

"Just a bit... you two are still blood related though!" Cheza exclaims.

"There was no sexual connotation in this act, Cheza. My leg was hurting so Sara was helping me by massaging it," I explain.

"Why is your leg hurting?" Cheza asks with concern.

"It's most likely from the limb dismemberment and subsequent replacement," I reply.

"But you didn't seem to have any problems with your arm," Cheza points out.

"True, I didn't, but my arm also isn't a weight-bearing limb. My leg is under a constant strain that wasn't present with my arm," I explain.

"Oh... sorry for jumping to conclusions... you know, again," Cheza replies.

"Yeah, you tend to misunderstand relatively innocent things for sexual acts quite a bit, don't you?" I rhetorically ask as I see Tia slip out of Jason's room with a sheet wrapped around her.

"Tia... what are you doing?" I loudly ask.

"Oh, Cole! Hey... this isn't what it looks like?" Tia suggests.

"Really? Because it looks like you had sex with Jason last night, despite the fact that he has a fiancée," I say.

"Oh... then it's exactly what it looks like," Tia replies.

"TIA! How could you!? Fuck! What do we do about Reyna!?" I exclaim.

"Relax, she was there too. She seemed into it and I discovered that Jason has gotten much better in the last seven years," Tia comments.

"Okay... problem solved, I guess," I reply.

"Cole, the cake should be cool enough to frost now," Sara tells me.

"Thanks," I say and get to work on frosting the cake.

Since it's still only 6am, we have breakfast before Cheza and I scamper off to take a shower. At about 8am, I go to Reyna's room to wake up him and Reyna, only to overhear an interesting conversation.

"Jason! You've gone soft again! It's like a wet noodle!" Reyna whines while muffled.

"Sorry, but it's a bit hard to keep it up when you have been drinking so much lately!" Jason retorts.

"What do you expect? I'm drinking for two," Reyna replies, still muffled, most likely by Jason's neck. I probably shouldn't interrupt...

I return to Jason's room, and pull out my phone to check up on Lord Byron.

"Hello?" Lord Byron answers with his Oxford English accent.

"Hello Lord Byron, this is Cole," I say.

"Ah, Mr. Treyfair! I was actually planning on calling you later today. I was able to set up a venue in Hades and I have finished planning the young prince's bachelor party. It will be held in five days," Byron informs me.

"Great! On Friday, then?" I reply.

"Correct. Shall I meet you at the venue?" Byron asks.

"Sure, where is it?" I inquire.

"At Acheron, in the Hades district," Byron replies.

"Acheron? The river of pain, Acheron?" I ask.

"In the original mythologies, yes; however, it's now the Underworld's premier location for a multitude of entertainment," Byron answers.

"If that's the case then I'm sure Jason knows where it is. I'll see you on Friday with the other two guests at... what time?" I inquire.

"Seven. See you then," Byron replies and ends the call.

I send a text to Ryuji to let him know of the plan for Friday. I'll have to go see Jericho later. Alright, now that that's settled, I suppose it's time to restart the investigation. I grab the cake and Cheza grabs my arm as I touch my Haglaz rune, port to Arizona, wait a minute, and touch my triskele to port us to Mount Olympus. Cheza and I walk along the cloud path leading into town, which already has people up and about at nine in the morning. We reach the fountain and I dig in my pocket for the golden coin Juno gave me.

"Trofi?" the harpy girl from yesterday asks.

"I'm sorry, but this cake is for Juno," I reply.

"Trofi?" another harpy girl asks.

"Trofi?" and another.

"Trofi?" and another.

"Trofi?" and another. I start to back away slowly.

"Trofi!" a harpy girl exclaims and they all take off after me.

"IRIS OPEN THE GATE! OPEN THE GATE! OW! WATCH THE TALONS! THIS IS LIKE SOME HORRIFYING MIX BETWEEN _THE BIRDS_ AND _THE CHILDREN OF THE CORN!_ " I scream while running around the fountain, getting swiped at by a score of flying harpy girls.

Cheza is cracking up and most of the people in the square are laughing as well. I look at the top of the fountain and see a shimmering rainbow with the form of a naked woman that is laughing and pointing at me.

"IRIS! PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODS, OPEN THE DAMN GATE!" I plead, still getting attacked.

A rainbow beams down and I run through it, only to have the harpy girls follow me. I start running around the compound of the palace to evade the harpy girls. After five minutes, a group of them appears in front of me. I didn't think they were smart enough to split up. After five more minutes of evading them, my right leg suddenly gives out from underneath me and I trip, falling onto my cake as the harpy girls dog pile on top of me.

"AH! I AM NOT TROFI!" I scream from within the flurry of feathers.

"Girls," a stern voice says and the flurry stops.

"Trofi?" I hear one of the girls ask.

"Ochi," the voice replies as I discern that it belongs to Diana.

"Trofi..." one of the girls replies, sounding disappointed. I hear the sound of fingers snapping.

"Trofi!" one of the girls exclaims and they all flutter off of me. I sit up and see the girls swarming a pile of food.

"What are you doing, Feros?" Diana asks.

"Just playing with the harpy girls... and ruining my apology cake to Juno..." I reply as I shakily rise to my feet.

"Why didn't you fight them off?" Diana inquires.

"I might've hurt them had I done that. Can you take me to Juno?" I request.

Diana gives me a bewildered look before walking towards the palace as I follow after her. She leads me through the corridors of the glittering white palace and into a private section that is roughly the size of a penthouse apartment. Diana walks into a living room with a brown leather furniture set and a flat screen before motioning for me to wait. I notice that Juno's quarters smell like pomegranate and orange as Diana continues through a room to the left. Diana and Juno reemerge in the living room and Juno crinkles her nose in distaste at my appearance.

"What in the name of the Void happened to you and what is that on your shirt?" Juno asks.

"He baked you a cake by way of apology, but the harpies tried to get it so he ran around the palace to avoid them instead of fighting them off because he didn't want to hurt them," Diana answers for me as I look down and see the remains of the cake on my jacket.

"Well, it's the thought that counts, I suppose," Juno says and snaps her fingers, making the cake on my chest disappear. "So, did you have more questions?"

"Yes. Could you describe the scene of the crime when you arrived?" I ask.

Juno moves and takes a seat on the couch while giving me a look that seems indicates that I should join her, so I do. Juno waves Diana away and she heads out through the front door.

"Neptune and I arrived on scene shortly after Pluto. Jupiter was lying on his back in the alley with a gaping hole in his chest. We knew that we couldn't stay there so Pluto and Neptune carried Jupiter and we all came back here," Juno replies.

"How was he lying? Was he sprawled out?" I inquire as I get down and sprawl out on the floor.

"No, he was more uniform. His arms were at his sides and his legs weren't that far apart," Juno answers as something occurs to me.

"How could you see the hole in Jupiter's chest? What was the condition of his shirt?" I question.

"Now that I think about it, his shirt was missing when we got there. Perhaps Pluto saw something in the time before Neptune and I arrived," Juno suggests.

"I think Hades might've done more than just that," I reply.

"You think Pluto killed Jupiter?" Juno asks and I nod. "That's absurd! Pluto has always been altruistic and wouldn't have done anything to upset the balance of power!"

"Which is why no one would suspect him," I reply.

"If Pluto killed Jupiter then why did he work to prove your innocence? What possible advantage could he have for getting people to search for a killer when everyone thought you were responsible?" Juno asks. She has a point.

"If it was any of the heads, Neptune has the most motive that I can see. I'm relatively sure that I overheard Jupiter arguing with him four nights ago," Juno says.

"Two days before his death?" I clarify and Juno nods the affirmation.

"I think I should go speak with Neptune, then," I add.

I suddenly feel Cheza slip into her Drive state before Diana ports into Juno's quarters.

"Feros, your girlfriend and Venus are fighting in the courtyard!" Diana exclaims.

Chapter 21: Not Your Average Catfight

I rush out to the courtyard to stop the fight before Cheza gets herself killed, only to find that she is holding her own against Venus. The whites of Cheza's eyes are silver and she is gripping a Synergistic blade in each hand as spires of black ice erupt in various areas of the courtyard.

"Ha ha! Too slow!" Venus taunts as she jumps, flips, and spins around the courtyard to avoid the spires of ice that are trying to impale her.

Venus jumps, flips to the side, and her aura flares as she calls out, "Luminis-fay!" while upside-down. A jet of water shoots from her outstretched hand and hits Cheza in the chest before freezing and encasing her body in ice.

"Cheza!" I call out and start to rush towards her, but my legs suddenly give out when I slip on a patch of ice. I don't think that was there a second ago...

"Haha! I guess you were all talk in the end, weren't you?" Venus rhetorically asks with a smug smile as she lands and walks toward Cheza.

I hear a subtle cracking of ice before the front half of Cheza's ice encasing shoots toward Venus. She spins gracefully to the right to avoid it, but she's not quick enough to keep from getting impaled by three ice spires that used the hunk of ice as a distraction. Venus moves to break free when dozens more pierce her body, immobilizing her as Cheza slowly moves towards her.

"Go ahead. Try to say it," Cheza says when Venus's aura starts to flare. "The moment you open your mouth, I'll throw this blade through it and then I'll get to work hacking you to pieces."

"Cheza, that's enough!" I tell her, but she keeps moving towards Venus.

"It won't be as quick as what Cole normally does, but after a few hacks at each limb and several rounds of freezing... I'm sure I could manage it," Cheza adds with a broad smile, malicious intent dripping from her tone.

"CHEZA!" I shout as I walk towards her. She refuses to stop so I scoop her up with my left arm and throw her over my shoulder.

"Iris!" I exclaim at the entrance while Cheza starts freezing my left shoulder and part of my neck.

The rainbow opens up and I walk us through it. We land next to the fountain and I feel Cheza snap out of it now that Venus is out of sight. I carry Cheza back to the gate while ignoring the burning sensation on my shoulder and neck. Once back on earth, I set Cheza down.

"So, do you feel like telling me what that was about?" I ask.

"Not really..." Cheza pouts.

Considering that I'm usually the cause of her entering her Drive state, I think it's safe to assume that Venus said something about me. Speaking of which, since my Drive is gone, is some part of Bhairava still in Cheza, or is that Airi too? Too bad Airi neglects to give me confirmation on these sorts of things and just leaves me in the dark. She can be so sadistic.

"Fine," I reply without a hint of anger. I gently grasp Cheza's hand and touch my Haglaz rune to return us to Niflheim.

"I have to go pay a visit to Jericho so I'll see you later," I tell her.

"Okay... Cole? Are you mad at me?" Cheza timidly asks.

"Of course not," I gently reply and give her a quick kiss.

"I'll see you later," I say before touching my Haglaz to port to the _Cas_ bar.

"Cole! Take a seat, a match is just starting. Rum and Coke?" Jericho offers.

"Sure," I reply as I take a seat at the bar and turn my eyes toward the flat screen on the wall behind the bar.

"Do you ever consider competing again?" Jericho asks as he hands me the drink.

"While it'd be fun, I doubt they'd let me compete. No one would bet against me. I'm too well known now," I reply and take a sip.

The match trudges on until the participants are forced into a quick draw. Two referees come out with western style holsters and modern revolvers that are loaded with a single shot. The combatants equip the holsters and the arena is flooded with red light. The arena flashes green and the combatants take their shots. They both hit, but the winner, whose bullet is closer to the imaginary ten-ring on the other combatant, is declared.

"So what's up?" Jericho asks now that the match is over.

"The bachelor party is scheduled for 7pm on Friday at the Acheron in Hades. Either Jason or I will come and pick you up around then," I inform him.

"Alright, I'll make arrangements to have someone run the bar while I'm gone. Thanks for letting me know ahead of time," Jericho replies.

"Of course. Anyway, I have some stuff to get done so I'll see you on Friday," I say.

"See you then!" Jericho responds.

I port back to Niflheim, walk out of the bedroom, and down the hall to find Jason. After ten minutes of searching, I still can't find him.

"Hey Tasha, have you seen Jason?" I ask when I pass by her in the kitchen for the third time.

"I think Reyna said that she and Jason were going shopping or something," Natasha responds.

"Alright... would you mind helping me out?" I inquire.

"Sure, with what?" Natasha asks.

"A murder simulation," I reply and Natasha gives me a questioning look.

"Don't look at me like that! All I need you to do is casually walk away from me, and then go completely slack in my arms," I explain.

"Alright," Natasha says with a shrug and stands up.

She walks down the hall while I rush up behind her, wrap my left arm around her waist, and pretend to stab her in the chest with my right hand. I wait, but she doesn't go slack.

"Tasha?" I say by way of reminder.

"Hey Cole? Can we talk?" Natasha asks in a fashion that makes my heart skip a beat. I panic and then Natasha becomes slack in my arms as I block the blood flow to her brain.

Cole Treyfair, you are the world's biggest coward.

I lay her unconscious body down onto the floor and observe her posture, finding that it is quite similar to one Juno described, confirming my hypothesis. If Jupiter had been attacked from the front, his body would have been sprawled out or he would have fallen facedown. The only way to get past being sprawled out is to have been attacked from behind, followed by being laid down because the force from hitting the ground would have sprawled him out otherwise. I suppose he could have been dragged as well, but this feels correct. It's not like I can check the pavement for indication that he was dragged... but I can check his shoes.

I scoop Natasha up and carry her to her bed, leaving a quick note of thanks before traveling to Mount Olympus. I make my way to the palace and head towards Jupiter's resting place. I walk around to the foot of the pedestal and inspect Jupiter's designer leather shoes—not a single scuff on them. If he were dragged by his feet then his arms wouldn't have been at his sides, so that's out. I should probably go ask Hades about the shirt situation and get his version of things. I walk back to the entrance of the palace and Iris opens the rainbow. Then it's back to the gate, earth, and finally Niflheim.

"Hades," I say while touching my Haglaz rune in the bedroom.

Upon arriving in Hades, I find myself berated by lights from all directions. I look around and realize why Lord Byron chose Hades as the place to hold the bachelor party: it's the Underworld's Las Vegas.

"Pretty amazing, isn't it?" I hear Hades ask behind me.

"Yeah," I reply.

Hades snaps his fingers and a sitting room is suddenly around us. Based on the fact that this room appears to be made of the same black obsidian-like material as Hel's palace, I'd say this must be Hades's palace. Hades takes a seat in a leather armchair and gestures for me to do the same so I sit on the couch across from him.

"Welcome back, Lord Hades. Do you need anything?" an olive-skinned woman wearing a maid uniform with braided hair asks.

"We're fine," Hades replies.

The maid gives a slight bow and I realize that the braids are actually snakes. She's a gorgon, the Greek mythological creatures that could turn men to stone by looking at them.

"Relax, gorgons are perfectly harmless. With the exception of Medusa, they can't even turn humans to stone. However, they can be petrifyingly scary when provoked," Hades answers the question I was thinking.

"So what brings you here today?" Hades inquires.

"I need to ask you a few questions regarding your brother. First off, what was the crime scene like when you found it?" I ask.

"Well, I ported to the location, saw Jupiter lying on the ground with a hole in his chest, and quickly looked for who was responsible, but no one else was around. There also weren't any obvious signs of a conflict," Hades informs me.

If Jupiter had been hit with a Void weapon, then that makes sense. They seem to have an immobilizing effect on gods, or at least my tendrils seem to.

"Could you see his shirt anywhere?" I inquire.

"No, I don't remember seeing one. My brother and sister showed up a few moments later and then Neptune and I carried Jupiter to Mount Olympus," Hades finishes.

"Why did you get to the scene so much faster than Juno or Neptune?" I question.

"Well, I was able to port directly to the scene because I didn't have to port to the gate as a separate trip when all of Hades is already a gate," Hades explains. Yeah, that makes sense.

"Alright, well that clears things up. Now I just have to speak with Neptune tomorrow since I've already determined that Juno can't be a suspect," I say.

"I'll send a message for him to be at Mount Olympus tomorrow," Hades offers.

"Thanks! See you around, Hades," I reply and touch my Haglaz to port back to Niflheim.

"Cole, why did you knock out Natasha?" Cheza angrily asks when I appear in the room.

"She agreed to help me out with a murder simulation and I was able to figure out how Jupiter was attacked," I quickly explain.

"Oh... when I heard that you knocked her out, I thought it was for something completely different! Like she was going to confess her love to you and you panicked or something haha!" Cheza says and I laugh nervously in response.

"Is Jason back yet?" I ask.

"I think he and Reyna got back a few minutes ago," Cheza answers.

"Thanks!" I say and get the hell out of there before I give myself away.

I find Jason in Reyna's room, looking rather drained.

"Hey bro, how are you doing?" I ask.

"This baby stuff is exhausting," Jason mumbles.

"Well hang in there. I got a call from Lord Byron today and the party is all set up for Friday at the Acheron," I inform him.

"Sweeeet. I'm actually happy about this, just too tired to show emotion," Jason replies.

"Got it. I'll let you know when dinner is ready," I say.

"Thanks," Jason groans as I leave the room.

My phone starts ringing and I see that it's a call from an unknown number.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hello? Feros? I received a message from my brother and he says that he won't be able to be at Mount Olympus tomorrow, something about the start of Indian Ocean sea turtle mating season in Pakistan and he's hosting a singles mixer this year," Hades tells me and I stand there shell-shocked... I wonder if that's some form of sea turtle BDSM. They're obviously familiar with the concept of a singles mixer so who knows what else they're capable of.

"Alright, thanks for letting me know. Goodbye," I reply and hang up.

I walk into the kitchen and find that Sara is preparing dinner. Reyna walks in with Jason and sits him down at the table. Everyone comes in, sits down, and we have a nice dinner while Jason tries to remain conscious.

"So Cole, why did you knock me out today?" Natasha asks.

"Don't you remember? You agreed to help me with a murder simulation and the best way to do that was to have you go slack like I had just killed you. Thanks to you, I was able to figure out the direct manner in which Jupiter was killed, instead of just knowing what killed him," I explain.

"Oh, well I guess I was glad to help then," Natasha replies.

"Well, this day has been long so I'm going to bed. Goodnight everyone," I announce.

"Goodnight, Cole," everyone calls back as I retire to my room.

I strip down to my boxers and get ready for bed. My head hits the pillow and I'm out after this sixteen hour day.

...

[November 17th]

"Hey Sara, can you take this bullet out of my stomach now?" I request at 8am.

"Sure, just let me go grab my stuff. Lie down on the kitchen table and I'll be right back," Sara orders and runs to her room to grab her medical bag.

"Airi, you know the drill."

I hop up onto the table and lie down. Sara comes back and Airi knocks me out.

...

One newly healed stomach and three hours later, I receive a glimpse of what it's like to be retired for the day: it's boring. Doing nothing but relaxing all day is boring so I start losing it at about 2pm. By 4pm, I'm roaming around the palace practically looking for trouble.

"Cole! I need your help, bro!" Jason exclaims.

"What's up?" I ask.

"Well, Reyna is pregnant and a woman's blood supply increases by fifty percent during pregnancy which is fine and dandy for normal women—they just make more. However, azeman and vampires don't make their own blood, which is why they have to drink it. Reyna is already draining me dry and she's incapacitated every living servant we have. She got nauseated and threw up and, well..." Jason states.

"Since I can replenish my blood supply hundreds of times faster, you're wondering if I can help out?" I suggest.

"Exactly," Jason replies.

"Lead the way," I respond.

Jason leads me into Reyna's room and she immediately hones in on me from the bed. I have to admit, she looks pretty scary. Reyna's eyes remind me of a cat's in that split second before it scratches you.

"Jason, I need you to get me a camelback, or a sports cooler with a hose that can feed directly into my mouth," I request.

"Filled with Gatorade?" Jason asks.

"No, the electrolytes have to go somewhere while water seems to get directly converted into blood," I tell him and Jason makes a hasty retreat from the room.

"Hey Reyna," I greet as she hungrily stares at my throat.

"Hey Cole... hard to focus... since you're here... can I?" Reyna brokenly asks while visibly shaking as she restrains herself. I sit down in a nearby armchair.

"Go ahead," I reply.

Reyna pounces from the bed and straddles my lap before biting into my neck.

"MMM! So good!" Reyna moans as she grinds against me a little bit.

Jason comes in with a liter-sized camelback and brings the straw/hose to my mouth. I bite onto it and start sucking down the water as Reyna continues sucking on my neck.

"I'm full. Thanks, Cole!" Reyna exclaims 1.2 liters later.

"No problem. See you tomorrow!" I say and leave the two of them alone so Reyna can work out her other kind of lust.

(With the amount of your blood that will be in the baby, it will most likely be immune to poisons. A useful trait to have for a half azeman Underworld princess)

"It's a girl?"

(Yes, but don't ruin the surprise, Master)

"Don't worry, I won't."

"Hey Cole, what was that all about?" Cheza asks as I pass by the kitchen.

"Jason and Reyna are having a girl! But they don't know yet so don't tell them," I reply.

(That is the opposite of not ruining the surprise)

"Okay, but what does that have to do with why there are bite marks on your neck that are still healing?" Cheza inquires.

"Well, Reyna needed blood so I gave her some and then Airi mentioned that my blood will grant immunity to poisons for the baby princess," I explain.

"Oh... Hey Cole? Can we talk?" Cheza asks and I get this urge to knock her out and run for the hills.

"Sure," I reply while sitting down next to her and wait several moments.

"...What do you think about having a baby?" Cheza timidly asks.

My stomach bottoms out like she just pushed me out of an airplane and my hands start shaking involuntarily. I blink and see myself cradling Addie's lifeless corpse in the middle of a pool of blood. I blink again and I'm back at the table while Cheza is saying something that I can't quite make out.

Blink: Addie's lifeless eyes, bloody hair matted to the side of her head.

Blink: Cheza with her hands on my shoulders.

Blink: Tears falling from my eyes onto Addie's lifeless cheeks.

Blink: Cheza shaking me.

Blink: Addie's body losing substance and turning into black smoke.

Blink: Cheza smacking my right cheek and then backhanding my left.

Blink: Frantic grasping at the smoke as it dissipates in a futile effort to bring her back.

But she's not coming back.

She can never come back.

And I'm the one to blame.

I feel myself slip beneath the surface of the pool of blood as I let the darkness claim me.

...

Chapter 22: Who needs Prozac when you've got _style?_ Actually, I still need it.

[November 18th]

I gasp awake at 7am the next morning.

"Cole? Are you alright now?" Cheza timidly asks from my right.

I wrap my arms around her and pull her closer to me. I simply hold onto her for the next few minutes, not saying a word, before I get out of bed and go take a shower. I finish up and get dressed when Jason knocks on the door.

"Hey bro, how are you feeling?" Jason asks.

"Fine. Need some help with Reyna?" I inquire.

"Yeah..." Jason admits and I follow him out the door.

We reach Reyna's room and I see that she is in the same state as yesterday. There's a camelback already beside the chair so I take a seat and slip the tube into my mouth.

"Come on, Reyna," I say and Reyna pounces.

"I'm full!" Reyna announces a liter later. "Thanks Cole! Your blood almost seems like it's more potent. I only need about half as much of it as I did when I was drinking from Jason and the servants."

"Well, I'm glad that I can help," I tell her and leave the room.

"She's lucky to have you around, Cole," Maria tells me while leaning against the wall in the hall. "When I was pregnant with Reyna and in the bloodlust stage, I accidentally killed dozens of servants. I nearly killed Babette, but she managed to pull through, which is why she became Reyna's wet nurse. Thankfully, this stage will be over in a few weeks or less."

"It's not like I'm doing anything special... speaking of, how did Babette come to be in your service? A live human in the Underworld is... uncommon, to say the least," I inquire.

"Babette has been in my service for many years. I still remember the dirty fourteen year old girl that I saved from that group of soldiers years ago..." Maria states while gazing off in the distance.

"The dogs had cornered her in an alleyway in France when I happened to be flying over, returning from a summit with the previous Vampire King in Paris. Since I hadn't eaten that night, I flew down to intervene. Dogs have always been good judges of power and ran off before I'd even changed form. The looks on the three soldiers' faces as I turned were priceless. Their MP40's were of little use to them that night and by the time I was finished with them, the streets were the same color as their armbands. I finished drinking from the last soldier before turning toward the girl that was too tired to cower. I walked over to her, asked if she would like to come with me, and the rest is history," Maria recalls.

Since the MP40 was developed by Nazi Germany and in combination with the armbands, it's fairly obvious what Maria is talking about.

"But wouldn't that mean that Babette is in her eighties?" I ask and Maria smiles at me like I'm so innocent.

"The blood of a vampire or azeman can do more than just change someone into one. In large enough doses, the blood results in the change; however, in smaller doses over a period of time, it slows the aging process. It also ties the lives of the two together," Maria explains.

"So if you die, Babette dies?" I inquire.

"That is correct, in a sense. What would actually happen is she would slip into a state of unresponsiveness and her mind would die, although no one is sure why," Maria answers.

"You said the previous Vampire King. Did you mean Byron's father? Or the vampire that turned Byron?" I ask.

"No, I mean the vampire that Byron killed to get the position. The Vampire King is decided through formal challenges. Any vampire can challenge the current king for the right to be king, which is a rather barbaric way to go about things," Maria replies.

"How is it done with the azeman?" I inquire.

"The throne is inherited," Maria informs me.

"Huh... Well thanks for the lesson, but I have a murder to investigate. I'll see you later, Maria," I reply.

"Good luck, Cole," Maria says as I walk back down the hall.

I head back into, basically what is now Cheza's and my room, and I pull on my holster and jacket. Cheza starts to put on her suit, but I stop her.

"I'm going to make the Mount Olympus trip solo today," I tell her.

"Oh, okay..." Cheza replies, disappointed.

I give her a kiss goodbye before making my way to Mount Olympus. I walk along the cloud path thinking that Cheza might be worrying about me because of last night.

"Iris, if you'd please," I ask at the fountain and the rainbow gate beams down.

I step through the rainbow and make my way into the palace. Remembering the location of Juno's private quarters, I make my way there and knock on the door.

"Hello Feros. What can I do for you?" Juno asks.

"May I come in?" I request and Juno moves to let me in. We walk into her living room and sit down.

"I have determined how Jupiter was killed and I need you to subtly look for the weapon. It will be an edged weapon that is all black, most likely a dagger. You should know it when you see it by the material," I tell her.

"I think I can manage that," Juno replies.

"Alright, let me know when you find it. Whoever has it is most likely the culprit, and right now I think the culprit is Neptune. I ask that you give the weapon to me when you find it so that I can destroy it," I say and Juno gives me a suspecting look.

"I can already kill gods without this weapon, so there is no increase in threat even if I were to keep it, but I wasn't planning on it," I respond and Juno thinks it over for a minute.

"Okay, I'll start searching for the weapon," Juno says.

"Good. Now, I'm off to go talk to Neptune... He's back from his Sea Turtle Fuckfest, right?" I ask.

"Haha! Yeah, he's in his room. It's this way," Juno laughs and leads me out of the room, down the corridor, and down a second corridor that leads towards the back of the palace.

"Here it is," Juno says while stopping in front of a door.

"I'll get to work on that thing we talked about. See you later, Feros," Juno adds and leaves. I knock on the door.

"Ah, Feros. Yes, my brother mentioned that you needed to speak with me. Come in," Neptune says when he answers the door.

I follow him into his quarters and see that the walls are painted a sea green and the décor is all sea-themed, including giant clamshell furniture. There are nets and colorful glass balls dangling everywhere and buoy with a bell at the top is in the center of the living room. Imagine a mermaid whorehouse... that's what Neptune's quarters look like. I take a seat on the couch that is essentially a giant clam with cushions in it.

"So what did you need to speak to me about?" Neptune asks.

"Let's start with you describing the crime scene when you arrived," I suggest.

"Well Pluto was already there, Jupiter was dead, and then we carried the body back here," Neptune replies simply.

"What were you arguing with your brother about two nights before he was killed?" I inquire.

"What? I wasn't arguing with him," Neptune replies, almost imperceptibly nervous.

"Really? Because Juno says she overheard you two arguing," I reply and Neptune gets more nervous.

"Oh, that, right... that was nothing, just an argument about how flying fish were encroaching on his turf..." Neptune says.

"Riiiight," I respond.

"*Sigh* And also because I wanted to evolve a certain species of sea turtle to gain the ability to fly," Neptune reluctantly adds.

"Is that why you killed your brother? With him out of the way you could simply take over the skies and make all the flying turtles you wanted," I accuse.

"What? I didn't kill my brother! If it was anyone, it was Pluto! When we originally drew lots to decide who would rule where, Jupiter was supposed to rule the Underworld, but he demanded a redraw! Pluto is the one with motive! He always hated that Jupiter was the King of the Gods despite being the youngest of us and the fact that Pluto wasn't kept in the list of the Twelve Olympians despite being one of the original six!" Neptune exclaims. He is quite blatantly trying to throw me off of his trail by using Hades as a scapegoat.

"Alright, I'll go look into that," I reply.

I just need Juno to find the dagger and we can bust Neptune. I stand up, exit the room, and travel back to Niflheim. Now that my part in this investigation is finished, all I have to do is play the waiting game. I sit down on the couch in the bedroom and start reading a book on my phone when Sara walks in about a minute later.

"Hey Cole? I want to talk about what happened last night. Cheza is worried about you," Sara says as she sits down beside me.

"What happened?" Sara gently asks.

"I don't really know... every time I blinked, what I saw switched between reality with Cheza, and a memory with Addie's corpse," I reply.

"This almost sounds like you're suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder... I'm going to write a prescription for Fluoxetine and Nefazodone to help with your nightmares and intrusive recall. I want you to take the prescriptions to the Walgreens closest to the house and wait to pick them up," Sara orders as she takes a prescription pad out of her pocket.

"Wait, you're actually licensed to practice medicine?" I ask.

"Of course! What, you thought I was just digging around inside you and Rei to remove bullets without having any clue what I was doing?" Sara rhetorically asks and hands me two prescriptions. "Now go get those filled."

I grab my keys from the top of the dresser before touching my Haglaz rune to port to the house in Arizona. I unlock the door, go into the kitchen, and grab the keys to the Maserati from the rack on the wall. After pulling out of the garage, I drive to the Walgreens. It's nice to travel like a normal person once in a while. I pull into Walgreens, head to the back to the pharmacy counter, and drop off the prescriptions before sitting down to wait the thirty minutes it will take to fill them.

I'm vaguely aware as a pharmacist coming in for work punches in the access code to the pharmacy door, but stops part way through when she notices me. She turns towards me and starts shaking slightly.

"You!" she exclaims and points a shaky finger at me. It takes me a few moments, but I finally recognize her.

"CVS lady! How are you? Working at Walgreens now? It's much better here, huh?" I pleasantly reply while she's too stunned to respond. "You look good! I see that the past year and a half have been kind to you!"

"The chinchilla deviant heroin addict! You do exist! And now you've come back to haunt me again!" CVS lady exclaims.

"Whoa, I am neither of those things, let alone both of them combined. I'm just here to pick up a couple of prescriptions," I explain while CVS lady reaches a shaky hand into her purse, pulls out a pill bottle, shakes a pill into her hand, and pops it into her mouth.

"Mr. Treyfair? You're prescriptions are ready," a pharmacist behind the counter says. I walk up and pay for the prescriptions.

"Bye Cindy!" I say as I walk away.

"GAH! How did you know my name!?" CVS lady yelps.

"That's actually your name? Cindy was just the first name that starts with C that I could think of because I didn't want to continue calling you CVS lady... Well, bye Cindy! I'll see you at home!" I call out. I just couldn't resist it.

"AHHH!" I hear Cindy scream as I exit the store.

I get back into the Maserati, drive home, drop off the keys, and port to Niflheim.

"Hey Cole, how did things go?" Sara asks.

"Fine. I saw an old friend who apparently works at that Walgreens now," I reply.

"A friend from school?" Sara inquires.

"No, a pharmacist that I gave an anxiety disorder to before I died," I say and Sara blankly stares at me in response.

"Dinner's ready," Cheza comes in and tells us.

We all head for the kitchen, finding everyone is already seated and eating fried chicken when we get there.

"Hey Rei, do you want to come to my bachelor party?" Jason asks halfway through dinner, causing me to drop my chicken leg, wipe my fingers, and stand up.

"Jason, can I talk to you for a second?" I request. Jason wipes his hands and follows me down the hall.

"Why, in the name of fuckall, would you invite Cheza to your bachelor party!?" I angrily ask in a hushed tone.

"Well she's always been like one of the guys to me and all of us would hang out together before, so it doesn't feel right to exclude her now," Jason explains.

"Yeah, but she's my fiancée now! This means that she will be silently judging every feeling I accidentally send and every micro expression on my face!" I exclaim.

"Shit... sorry bro, I didn't even think of that!" Jason replies.

"There's a reason why women usually aren't invited to bachelor parties," I say and head back to the kitchen.

Jason and I sit back down and resume dinner.

"Thanks for the offer, Jason, but Reyna's bachelorette party is also on Friday night," Cheza says and I feel a wave of relief.

"It is? Why didn't you tell me?" Jason asks Reyna.

"Because you never asked," Reyna replies.

"So I will have to decline, but you guys go and have fun... but not too much fun," Cheza finishes with a glance in my direction that seems to imply that if I marry a stripper, she will murder me.

"The same goes for you," I think to her.

"Don't worry. I won't be marrying anyone but you," Cheza replies with a smile.

I like how we're on the same wavelength. I take both of my pills with dinner and head to bed.

...

[November 19th]

That night, the sound of my phone ringing wakes me up at 3am.

"Hello?" I groggily answer.

"Feros, Juno has been murdered. Meet me at the gate to Mount Olympus," Hades reports.

"Be there in a few," I reply, hang up, and quickly get dressed.

"What's going on, Cole?" Cheza sleepily asks while sitting up in bed.

"Juno's been murdered. I'll be a couple of hours. Just go back to sleep," I calmly say.

"Alright... be careful..." Cheza replies and yawns.

"I will," I say and give her a quick kiss goodbye before porting to earth.

I wait the mandatory minute and touch my triskele to port to Mount Olympus. I see Hades leaning against one of the stone columns of the gazebo, smoking a black cigarette that smells of pomegranate while waiting for me. He extinguishes the cigarette on the heel of his shoe when he sees me, snaps his fingers, and ports us to the entrance of the palace. Hades leads me back to Juno's room where nearly every god in attendance is giving me a dirty look.

"Hades, did you just get here?" Neptune asks.

"Yeah, I was waiting for Feros at the gate," Hades replies as I walk over and inspect Juno's corpse.

Juno is lying in her bed, wearing a low cut negligee. The entire room smells like pomegranate, but I suppose that is to be expected with her potpourri. There are no signs of a struggle and no hints as to how she died... well, except for the giant hole in her chest. The melted-looking hole reaches from her neck down to her solar plexus and is almost halfway covered by the negligee. This means that the disintegration of the golden mass doesn't melt clothing like it does to the skin and bone of gods... the murderer must have taken Jupiter's shirt to hide the stab wound.

I find it strange that Juno was killed the night after I asked her to search around for the murder weapon and accused Neptune of Jupiter's murder... and by 'find it strange,' I mean I think she found something and Neptune killed her. I need to talk to Diana. If anyone knows if Juno found something, it'd be her. The only problem is that since this has already gotten Juno killed, I can't exactly call out to Diana with everyone watching. I'll just come back and talk to her tomorrow.

"Well, I've determined that Juno was killed in the same fashion as Jupiter, possibly while she was sleeping, which is what I'm going home to do right now," I announce and walk out of the room.

I walk to the entrance, ride the rainbow road down to the fountain, and head towards the gate when Neptune appears in my path.

"We need to talk. I'll meet you at your house in six hours," Neptune says before disappearing.

I enter the gazebo/gate and touch my Haglaz rune. I strip down to my boxers and crawl in bed next to Cheza before going down for a six hour nap.

...

I wake up at 10am to an empty bed. I take a quick shower and get dressed in my armored suit that is missing below the knee of my right leg, but that's hardly a problem since that part of my leg is now indestructible. After equipping my holster, I'm about to touch my Haglaz when I have the consideration to let Cheza know where I'm going.

"Good morning, Cheza. I'm going to have a chat with Neptune at the house regarding Juno's murder. Just thought I'd let you know," I think.

"Alright, thanks!" Cheza replies and I port to the front lawn in Arizona.

"What the fuck happened here!?" I exclaim when I see a shirtless Neptune with a gaping chest cavity lying in the grass, while Hades stands nearby.

"I was hoping that you could tell me," Hades says while smoking a black cigarette, filling the air with a pomegranate scent. I notice that 'Feros' has been carved into the grass next to Neptune, presumably with the dagger that is lying in his open left hand—is that?

(No, that's just a normal dagger)

"Shit! I guess this means Neptune didn't kill Jupiter or Juno..." I inform Hades.

"I take it by your response that you didn't do this. This looks bad though... perhaps you should just lie low in Niflheim for a few days while I calm things down on Mount Olympus," Hades suggests and puts his cigarette out on the heel of his shoe.

"Yeah, I probably should... just watch your back. If you die, the whole Greek/Roman pantheon goes with you. Not to mention all the things that are tied to you guys... who knows, the whole peninsulas of Greece and Italy might just disappear," I tell him.

"I will. I need to get the body back to Olympus now," Hades replies.

"Alright, just be on the lookout for a bladed black weapon that will most likely be wicked-looking and made of a foreign material. Whoever has that is the killer," I warn him.

"I'll do that," Hades says with a smile and hoists Neptune's body over his shoulder before disappearing. I touch my Haglaz rune and port back to Niflheim.

"Hey, how did things go?" Cheza thinks while taking a shower.

"Well, Neptune's dead and I've been framed again. This time my name was carved into the grass by the dead guy, which is impossible because the weapon used has a side effect of immobilizing people. Thankfully, Hades knows I'm innocent so he's going to try and calm down the rest of the gods, but he suggested that I stay in Niflheim for the next few days," I explain.

"Well that sucks..." Cheza replies.

...

Chapter 23: _The Hangover_ Supernatural Edition

The next two days go by in a monotonous fashion that involves daily feedings for Reyna and a whole lot of boredom that I imagine is similar to being on house arrest.

[November 21st]

"So do you know what is planned for tonight?" I ask as Cheza slips into her little black party dress.

"Natasha hasn't said much about what she's planned, but she did mention that we were going to a cock fight, which I think seems a little inappropriate for a bachelorette party..." Cheza replies while putting on makeup in the bathroom mirror.

"Yeah, that is a little... different. Anyway, I'm going to go pick up Ryuji and Naia now," I tell her.

"Alright," Cheza replies as she's applying mascara. I walk out of the room and down the hall to Reyna's room.

"Hey Jason, don't forget you have to pick up Jericho. I'm going to pick up Ryuji and Naia now," I shout through the door after knocking.

"Right!" Jason replies.

I touch my Haglaz rune to port to Ryuji's apartment, only to find that no one is in the living room when I arrive.

"Hey, are you guys ready to go?" I yell towards the back of the apartment.

"Yeah, just... give us a second!" Ryuji calls back.

I sit on the couch and wait for them. Naia comes out in a black halter top dress with Ryuji, wearing a button-up shirt and jeans (which is coincidentally the same ensemble that I'm wearing), behind her. By Ryuji's relaxed posture and the way Naia is wiping her mouth, I'm pretty sure I know what they were just doing, but I don't say anything as I hold out my arm.

I port us to the kitchen of the palace and we all sit down to wait. Cheza comes out a few minutes later, followed by Reyna and Natasha.

"Are you girls ready to go?" Hel asks as she walks into the kitchen with Maria, Sara, and Tia.

"Yep, let's get this night started!" Natasha exclaims.

Hel snaps her fingers and the girls disappear. Ryuji and I stand there in awkward silence while waiting for Jason to port back with Jericho.

"So have you heard anything about the Templars?" I inquire.

"Reports seem to indicate that they've gone to ground. The murders of the four members of the Council while connected by an enigmatic helmeted assailant and the blood from another murder victim, all while taking place across the country in a time frame that is impossible by the boundaries of physics, have caused quite the mystery among normal law enforcement. Of course, those in the know knew that Feros was behind it based on the message on the bullets. Ever since then, virtually all Templar activity has ceased," Ryuji reports.

"Well that's good—one less thing to worry about," I reply as Jason ports in with Jericho.

"Hey, were you able to get everything sorted out with the bar?" I ask.

"Yeah, I have this girl who works part-time taking over for tonight. Hopefully she'll be able to handle it... anyway, let's get going! To Acheron!" Jericho exclaims.

"To Acheron!" we all shout after him and Jason snaps his fingers, porting us to Hades.

The sign alone makes this place impressive. Acheron is spelled out in flowing, connected letters that appear to have blood flowing through them with flames dancing behind it. The architecture of the building is crazy and looks like someone sewed several metal structures together. It reminds me of the Experience Music Project building in Seattle, but this building is about ten times that size. Jason, Ryuji, Jericho, and I walk across the street and enter the building to pitch-black darkness.

"Welcome to the best night of your lives, boys!" Byron announces and jets of fire spring up on either side of him before the whole place lights up with a round of cheers from the crowd of patrons. Two large breasted women, whom I might confuse for short ifrits if it weren't for their black color scheme and the small, curved horns sticking out of the sides of their heads, walk over and hand Jason and I a drink.

"To us, Bro!" Jason exclaims with a grin as he raises his glass.

"Why are you toasting me? You're the one getting married!" I reply as I clink his glass and we both down our drinks.

"Hey Ryuji, are these imps or succubi?" I ask.

"The horns make them succubi," Ryuji whispers back.

We all walk up the steps to the upper level of Acheron and see a gigantic cake. This thing has half a dozen layers, is ten feet wide, and ten feet tall. Suddenly a horde of strippers pops out from different areas of the cake with a tiny stripper at the top.

"STRIPPER CAKE! STRIPPER CAKE FOR ALL!" Jason shouts and the crowd cheers. A group of strippers walks over and feeds us a handful of cake—rum cake.

"Over here, boys!" Byron calls to us.

We walk over to the bar where there are shots set up around flags of different countries, and some flags that must be from different planes.

"It's an alcohol world tour!" Byron explains. We start doing some shots and the night begins to blur.

After the shots, Byron leads us over to another part of Acheron and sits us down in theater seats as a stage lights up. What proceeds is a show that I can only describe as a naked-female Cirque du Soleil, and it is fucking mind blowing. During the show, I receive an image from a drunken Cheza of Reyna and Natasha making out with each other. It looks like they're having fun, but I hope that Reyna isn't drinking alcohol, what with the pregnancy and all. I'm sure Maria is moderating that.

Once the mind blowing show is over, Byron stands up and leads us to a part of Acheron that resembles an arena, which appears to be flooded with about a foot of a gel-like substance.

"Now, we can either watch and place bets, or we can strip down to our pants and join in on the Jell-O wrestling battle royal," Lord Byron offers as two dozen beautiful women walk into the arena.

I look over and see that Jason has already stripped down to his underwear, deciding for us. The five of us strip down and jump over the railing into the arena. What proceeds is Jell-O wrestling of epic proportions, made even more epic when we discover that the Jell-O was made with alcohol. Every time one of us gets taken down, we basically end up doing a Jell-O shot, causing the night to become even blurrier.

About an hour later, the five of us rinse off in some showers before getting dressed and heading back to the bar for another round of drinks. I see a blonde werewolf pass by our booth. Despite the fact that she's an adult and I wouldn't be able to tell that she was a werewolf if I couldn't see her aura, it's still enough to remind me of Addie.

"Here you go, mate," Byron says while handing me a drink, noticing my demeanor.

"I know what you're going through. I lost my daughter when she was five years old. She wasn't murdered in front of me, but she did die in my arms... It was difficult for me to cope with so I can only imagine how hard it must be for you in an age where a child's death is no longer commonplace," Byron says.

"I keep seeing her wherever I go... I've been taking some pills for it, but it's too early to know if they're working..." I reply and take a drink.

"Even after all this time, I still remember Allegra's tiny eyes as the life faded from them due to the fever..." Byron says as he takes a drink.

"To the lights that faded from our lives all too soon... and to the hope that they don't darken our hearts forever," Byron raises his glass.

I clink my glass against his and we down our drinks, along with subsequent others as we try to chase away our memories for the evening.

...

[November 22nd]

I wake up in an unfamiliar bed with a pounding head. Out the window to the right of the bed is an inordinate amount of color for the Underworld. Where am I? I look to my left and see a small naked body that reeks of champagne... Did I kidnap a child and dunk her in a kiddie pool sized martini glass at the champagne room of a strip club? Or did I just fill up a bathtub with champagne? I sit up and get a good look at her to try and figure out just how bad this situation is.

"HOLY SHIT SHE'S DEAD!" I scream when I notice her lack of outline.

"What are you screaming about?" Jason asks as he stumbles through the doorframe.

"I'M PRETTY SURE I DROWNED A CHILD IN CHAMPAGNE LAST NIGHT, THAT'S WHAT I'M SCREAMING ABOUT!" I shout.

"Relax, it's just a dwarf," Byron says while nursing his head beside Jason.

"The 'race' kind or the 'human with a disease' kind?" I ask.

"Race," Byron replies.

"I RAPED AND MURDERED A DWARF!" I yell. Jericho and Ryuji stumble up behind Jason and Byron to survey the scene.

(My head is still pounding, but I don't remember you having sex with anyone)

Well, at least there's that...

"I'm almost positive that's a hooker," Byron says.

"Oh, thank the Void. I only killed a hooker... THIS STILL DOESN'T RESOLVE THE CORE PROBLEM!" I shout.

"If the core problem was you drowning and raping a child, I'm pretty sure that problem is resolved," Jason says.

(Cheza on Line One)

"*Sigh*... Put her through."

"COLE! WHERE IN THE HELL ARE YOU GUYS!?" Cheza screams.

"Jason's bachelor party, where else? It's quite common for these things to go into the next day," I nervously reply.

"I understand that, but it's been THREE FUCKING DAYS! You assholes have had all of us worried because we couldn't contact you!" Cheza exclaims as I check my phone and find that it's dead.

[November 22nd 24th]

"Wait a second, it's been three days!? Uh, gotta go! Be home soon!" I respond.

"Airi close the connection and block all calls."

"Where are we?" I address the room.

"If I remember correctly, Jason ported us to Svartalfaheimr to continue the party last night," Byron replies.

"Did you also know that it's the 24th today!?" I exclaim.

"What!? I'm getting married tomorrow!?" Jason replies and I nod.

"Alright, first thing's first, we need to do something with the body... got it. I'll just dissolve it in the tub by transmuting my blood into acid," I say and hoist the body off of the bed.

I walk over to a door that I suspect might lead to the bathroom.

"RAWR!" a giant eagle head says before I slam the door shut.

"WHAT IN THE HELL IS THAT!?" I scream as I hear clawing at the door.

"Oh, I remember! Jason took one of the griffins with us after we were done racing them!" Ryuji exclaims.

"We rode griffins and raced them!? That is so badass!" I reply.

"Well, it sounds hungry and since that's the only bathtub in our suite, what do we do with the body?" Jericho asks and then all five of us shoot each other sly little glances.

...

"I went to check on the dwarf sometime later and found that she had been eaten by the griffin. It was at this time that Feros was forced to put the rogue griffin down. This was, without a doubt, a tragedy... but completely unavoidable," Jason states in a press release.

"It really does suck that we had to kill the griffin... Rest in peace, Buttercup..." Jason says as he changes the TV channel.

"When did you name the griffin?" I ask from my seat adjacent to him on the couch in Cheza's/my room.

"About ten seconds ago," Jason replies.

"So it seems like you guys had fun," Cheza says somewhat pointedly from the seat to my right.

"I wouldn't know because I can't remember anything past the first half of the first night, which is why I didn't contact you," I explain.

"So how was the bachelorette party?" I inquire.

"Well, the cock fight was interesting... definitely not what I was expecting. There weren't even any chickens!" Cheza exclaims.

I do not even want to know what she is talking about. We sit in silence on the couch, just watching TV as I start to feel a bit nostalgic.

"This is nice... just like old times... the three of us, just sitting on the couch, watching TV," Jason says.

"It's better now that I'm not constantly thinking about a way to get Cole to love me back," Cheza mumbles. I lean over and kiss her.

"I agree," I whisper.

"Speaking of which, how do you feel about getting married tomorrow?" I ask Jason.

"I don't know... guess it hasn't really set in yet," Jason replies.

"So what's the game plan for tomorrow?" I inquire.

"Well, we'll leave at about 10am for the Citadel, the girls will get ready in a modified combatants' chambers while I snap on the guys' tuxes in another room. Then we wait until the ceremony, which starts at noon. Everyone besides Reyna will get into position, she'll be walked down the aisle by Babette, and we'll get married. Then it's back here for the reception in the courtyard where we'll eat, you'll give your speech, we'll have cake, and then Reyna and I are off for our honeymoon in Tahiti," Jason explains and my breath catches in my throat. Nobody said shit to me about any speech!

"Don't worry. You have just over eighteen hours to write one," Cheza reassures me as she grabs my hand and I feel my anxiety wash away.

"Thanks," I think and give her a quick kiss.

"It's really creepy to see you guys do that..." Jason says.

"Do what?" Cheza asks.

"Talk to each other telepathically. Your facial expressions change and then Cole kisses you for no apparent reason," Jason says.

"Well, sorry if cute, coupley things creep you out!" Cheza sarcastically replies.

"Hey guys, Sara asked me to let you know that dinner is ready," Jericho says.

"Thanks. Were you able to get everything worked out with the part-timer?" I ask as everyone exits the room.

"Yeah, she actually continued running the bar on Saturday and yesterday when she saw that I wasn't able to make it back," Jericho replies.

"Wow, sounds like you found a good employee!" I exclaim as we walk into the kitchen.

We all sit down with Ryuji, Naia, Reyna, Tia, and Sara, and we eat before I take my pills and call it a night... And by night, I mean staying up for six hours while trying to think of something to say for my speech, only to give up and go to bed at 1am.

...

Chapter 24: Runaway Bride

[November 25th]

I can barely recognize the Citadel as we walk through the spectator portion of the stadium to the guys' dressing room/ Niflheim's combatants' chambers. All the white lace and flowery decorations that the decorators put up have really done a number towards making this bloodsport arena look like an appropriate place for a wedding. They even lifted the district dividers for today. I spot dozens of security guards disguised as ushers patrolling the arena. Jason, Jericho, Ryuji, and I make our way to our dressing room on the opposite side of the arena from the girls' room. We reach the hall leading in to the dressing room, where two heavily armed guards are standing.

"What are the guards for? It's hardly necessary when both of us can easily hold our own," I mention to Jason.

"They're mostly just a deterrent for paparazzi. This is a strict 'no cameras' affair," Jason replies as we walk into the combatants' chambers that have been remodeled with leather couches, a minibar, and mirrors.

"How are you feeling?" I ask him, noticing that he looks a bit jittery.

"Good, fine... great," Jason replies.

"No, really," I say.

"I'm nervous as fuck, but I'm going through with this. Reyna's pregnant and I'm crazy about her. There's no turning back so I can only barrel forward," Jason responds.

"Damn straight, Skippy! But it sounds like you could use a drink," I reply.

"What a coincidence, I was thinking exactly the same thing!" Jason exclaims and ambles over to the minibar.

"No repeats of Halloween though! Grab me the stuff for a rum and Coke," I request.

"They've got three different types of rum, but no Coke," Jason says while holding up the tiny bottles.

"What!? Blasphemy! I'll go find some," I melodramatically announce and leave the room.

I walk down the hall and wander around until I find a vending machine. While bending down to pick up my recently dispensed bottle of Coke, I feel someone jump on my back.

"COLE!" I hear Lila squeal as she hangs on.

"Lila!? What are you doing here?" I ask as I turn around and see that Charlotte and Aine are here as well.

"We're here for the wedding of course!" Lila exclaims into my ear before dismounting from my back to rejoin her mother.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me," Lila pouts.

"Didn't tell you what?" I ask.

Lila opens her mouth to respond, but Aine interrupts her.

"We have to meet Dagda and Manannan mac Lir now. We'll see you later, Cole!" Aine quickly explains and leads Lila away.

"He doesn't know yet, remember?" Aine whispers to Lila when she thinks that she's out of earshot.

What don't I know yet? Rather than worry about it, I port back to the dressing room, drink a third of my coke, and replace it with rum before gently mixing it. Jason, Ryuji, Jericho, and I start drinking and joking around to help Jason let off some tension.

"COLE! Natasha and Reyna are gone!" Cheza frantically thinks.

"Well, didn't they just go to the bathroom or something?" I ask.

"They left a note saying they were running away together!" Cheza exclaims and my mind flashes back to a memory of them making out at the bachelorette party. This is really not going to help Jason's tension...

"I'll be right back," I tell the room and touch my Haglaz rune, porting to Cheza's location.

"Why are you wearing a wedding dress?" I inquire upon seeing Cheza.

"That's not important right now. Take a look at this," Cheza replies and Jason's speech before the bachelor party starts making sense, not to mention what Aine had said about something I don't know yet.

"Holy shit! You planned for us to get married without telling me!?" I incredulously ask.

"You were taking too long! And we have bigger problems!" Cheza shouts and thrusts the typed letter into my hand.

"Naia found this when she went to the dressing room that Natasha and Reyna were in," Cheza tells me as I read the printed letter:

Dear Jason,

I have discovered that I cannot go through with this. I can't marry you. If I did, I would only be lying to myself. I'm running away with Natasha. Please do not try to find us, and know that some part of me will always love you.

Reyna

Something about this letter is off to me, and that something is the fact that this letter was typed. Reyna took the time to type this letter instead of writing it by hand, which shows a level of premeditation inconsistent with bridal jitters... and if this were premeditated, then why did they bother coming to the wedding at all? Why not just leave in the dead of night when no one could stop them?

"Naia, when did you go to the dressing room?" I inquire.

"About ten minutes ago," Naia says, visibly stressed out by this.

"Were the guards there?" I ask.

"Yes, they were," Naia replies and I quickly walk out of the room towards Reyna's dressing room.

"Cole?" Cheza thinks as I see that I'm in the Adlivun section of the Citadel while the girls' dressing room is supposed to be in the Mictlan section, which should be one to the left.

"Just stay and get ready. I'm going to go talk with the guards and try to figure this out," I reply as I walk clockwise into the Mictlan section. I head to the combatants' chambers where I see two guards standing on each side of the hall.

"Halt, we are under strict orders to not let any male into the women's dressing room, including you, Mr. Treyfair," the guard says.

"Are you aware that there is nobody in that room anymore because they were kidnapped?" I ask.

"What!?" the guards exclaim and one runs down the hall, throws open the door, and looks back with an 'Oh shit!' expression on his face.

"Come, let's talk down here away from prying ears," I reply and both the guards look incredibly nervous. We walk down the hall and stop outside the door without entering the room because I don't want to take the chance of compromising any clues.

"Now, I believe that Natasha and Reyna were taken within the last hour, so you assclowns are going to walk me through what you've been doing in the last hour, alright?" I rhetorically ask. The guards quickly nod the affirmative.

"Well, we were guarding the hallway the entire time," one guard explains.

"Are you sure? You didn't leave your posts for any reason? Even moving the slightest distance?" I question.

"Oh, well there was a guy that somehow got a camera past security and was taking pictures of the hallway about thirty minutes ago. Since he wasn't one of the official wedding photographers, we did as we had been instructed and beat the shit out of him before destroying the camera," the other guard replies.

"But we were less than ten feet away!" the first guard quickly adds.

"Alright, I'm going to take a look around the room. You two are to stand guard at the hallway, just as you have been doing. Everything is business as usual and the bride is by no means missing. Do you understand?" I ask.

The guards both nod emphatically and run back to their posts while I step into the room.

Nothing seems out of the ordinary. There's makeup on the desk in front of a mirror that has light bulbs bordering it, no chairs are knocked over, the girls' dresses are hanging neatly nearby, there aren't even any scuff marks on the floor. I head out of the room and back to the guards.

"How long were you guys absent from your posts exactly?" I question.

"It couldn't have been more than thirty seconds. Some other guards came and took over for us so we could return," the guard recants.

That's not enough time to smuggle Reyna and Natasha out in barrels or something, which is the only way they could do it without drawing too much attention.

(Alright, amateur hour is over, Master)

"Airi? Do you know something?"

(I know that you have just under an hour to find Reyna and Natasha and return here for the ceremony or it will be the end of the Underworld as we know it)

"WHAT!? Why!?"

(Because)

I face-palm before asking "I meant have you noticed any clues?"

(Look on the floor to the left of the door)

I walk down the hallway, over to the door, and notice what looks like a small scuff mark, until I look closer. The mark has residue that isn't rubber. I get my face closer to smell it and notice a scent that is familiar: pomegranate. I'm wondering how that scent got there when I remember that a certain someone would often extinguish his pomegranate-scented cigarettes on the heel of his shoe. That has to leave some tobacco residue which could come off after a quick stop, say, after sprinting down a hallway. Thirty seconds might not be enough time to smuggle two people out through traditional means, but it is enough time to port out...

Looking back now, Hades was obviously responsible for the deaths of his brothers and sister too! He was the first person at the scene in two out of three of the crimes, he had blatant motives, and the nice guy is the one you always have to watch out for with serial killings, which is part of the reason why I believed he didn't do it, thinking that someone was using this fact against him.

"But this doesn't make any sense! Why did Hades prove my innocence when he killed Jupiter?"

(Think about it. If you hadn't been proven innocent and had been killed for Jupiter's murder, who was going to take the blame for the other two he still had to commit to obtain complete control of Olympus?)

"Dammit!" I exclaim. It all makes perfect sense!

The door suddenly opens and smacks me in the head.

"Ouch," I say from the concrete floor of the hallway.

"Cole? What are you doing here? Where are Reyna and Natasha?" Hel asks with Maria behind her. I stand up and usher them both back into the room.

"Reyna and Natasha have been kidnapped by Hades. I also just realized that he was responsible for the murders of the other Greek/Roman heads. I doubt he went back to his palace, but I'm going to drop by and see if he's there, just in case. What are the chances that Persephone was in on the plan?" I ask Hel.

"Doubtful. Persephone and Hades aren't exactly the happiest of couples," Hel replies.

"Good. She'll be willing to tell me if she has an idea of where he'd go. Can you guys stall the wedding for roughly an hour? I should be able to find them and bring them back here by then," I explain.

"We can say that Reyna tripped and ripped her dress so we're having it repaired," Maria suggests while keeping her cool, as to be expected from a queen who's two centuries old.

"That won't work. Gods have the power to fix that type of thing in seconds," Hel replies.

"We shall think of something. Go bring them back, Cole," Maria tells me.

I nod and port to my room at Niflheim's palace. I pull out my suit and slide into it when Jason suddenly appears with a swirl of black.

"What's going on, CT?" Jason asks in a serious manner.

"*Sigh*... I guess I can't exactly keep this from you... Reyna and Natasha have been kidnapped by Hades. I'm going to the palace in Hades to find out where he's taken them. Then I'm going to rescue them and bring them back for the ceremony," I reply.

"I'm coming with you," Jason says and snaps his fingers, changing his clothes to my jacket and armored jeans, which are a bit too small on him. I strap on my boots, slip on my holster, wrap the Obliterator around my waist, and nod at him. He grabs my shoulder and ports us to the driveway of Hades palace.

"Cole!? What's going on!?" Cheza asks.

"Natasha and Reyna have been kidnapped. Jason and I are going to rescue them," I quickly explain.

"Come and get me. I can help!" Cheza exclaims.

"No," I simply reply.

"Why not!?" Cheza yells.

"I know you could help, Cheza... but I'm not going to put you in a position where you have to murder people on your wedding day. Jason and I will be back soon with Reyna and Natasha, so just continue to get ready for the wedding," I tell her.

"Fine... just be careful," Cheza quietly replies.

"I will. I love you, Cheza. See you in a little while," I reply and close the connection.

Jason and I walk right up to the door, give each other a little nod, and dramatically... give a polite little knock on the door.

"Yes?" a gorgon maid answers.

"We need to speak with Persephone," I say.

"I'm sorry, but Lady Persephone is getting prepared for the wedding," the gorgon maid replies.

"If we don't speak with Persephone, there won't be a wedding," Jason says.

"Prince Jason! My apologies for not noticing you sooner! Come in," the maid says and ushers us in to a sitting room.

We take a seat and wait a few moments before a woman with curly dark brown hair in her mid-thirties walks into the room wearing a slightly transparent black silk robe.

"Jason! It's been ages! Congrats on the engagement!" the woman says and Jason stands up to hug her.

"Thanks Sephi, that's part of why we're here," Jason says, but all I can think is 'Sephi? Yep, they boned.'

"Reyna and our friend Natasha have been kidnapped and I'm almost positive that Hades did it," I say.

"Fucking asshole... he's always doing shit like this! Like kidnapping me and tricking me into being Queen of Hades!" Persephone exclaims.

"Sephi, do you have any idea where Hades would have gone if he had kidnapped two women, which he has?" Jason asks.

"Well there is a large house in Sicily that he bought. Quite a lovely view. It looks out over the ocean from a cliff top," Persephone replies.

"Do you have a photo? Or even a specific city?" I question.

"I believe it was in Syracuse, but I don't have any information beyond that," Persephone says.

"Can you work with that?" Jason asks me.

"I should be able to. Sicily's like the size of Rhode Island, right? Since it's narrowed down to a single tiny city on an already tiny island, I should be able to manage it," I reply.

"I don't think that's right... anyway, thanks for your help, Sephi! You should go finish getting ready for the wedding, because it's definitely still on for today, though you do have an extra hour or so," Jason says and we exit the palace. Once past the gates, I pull out my phone.

"So how did you meet Persephone?" I ask while Googling Syracuse.

"She was at the first dinner party I went to as Prince of Niflheim. We hit it off because we both really didn't want to be there. We ended up hooking up in the coat room at the party and then for the next three months until she returned to Mount Olympus. When she came back last November, we resumed our affair and Hades was none the wiser," Jason explains while I find a suitable picture of Syracuse.

"Or Hades had known all along and we just discovered his motive for doing all of this," I reply.

"Shit... you might be onto something there..." Jason responds.

I grab his shoulder and touch my Haglaz run to port us to the forest near Syracuse that I found. We appear in the Sicilian twilight as I notice Jason's faint golden aura growing even fainter by the second.

"Shit! Jason I thought you had some time on earth saved up!?" I panic.

"I do!" Jason exclaims, panicking because I'm panicking.

(Transfuse your blood into Jason and everything will be fine)

Heeding Airi's suggestion, I twist open the ring on my left hand and slice into Jason's right palm before grabbing his hand with my left.

"There, that should handle things," I tell him as I start syphoning some of my blood into him.

"Airi, have you been able to find Natasha and Reyna yet?"

(It's either them... or a flock of seagulls)

"Why would a flock of seagulls have my blood in them?"

(I don't know, Master. Have you been giving any of your blood to seagulls?)

"You know that I haven't!"

(Then it is most likely Reyna and Natasha. What I'm trying to say is that it's difficult to see from here. Their location is two miles to the south of our position)

"Found the girls. They're two miles to the south," I tell Jason. He turns right and starts walking.

"How do you know which way is south?" I ask.

"Well the sun is setting and since the sun rises in the west and sets in the east, this is the right direction," Jason explains.

"Isn't the saying 'the sun rises in the east and sets in the west'?" I question. Jason stops, turns around, and starts walking in the opposite direction.

Some things never change.

Chapter 25: Sicilian Standoff

Jason and I walk hand-in-hand through the forest when I realize that we look like we are in one of those 'stuck together' episodes in which I got tree sap on my hand and then pulled Jason out of the way of a falling boulder or a pit of snakes before realizing that the sap had magically solidified so now we have to walk to some sort of absolvent factory that is in the middle of town while holding hands... don't all episodes of that nature in TV stem from homophobia?

(The transfer has been complete for the past minute...)

"Now I'm just doing it to prove a point that I can hold my best friend's hand without feeling weird about it."

(And moving slowly in the process when your friends have been kidnapped)

"Well, when you put it that way..."

"Okay, now that you aren't going to die in the next ten seconds, let's get going," I tell Jason and he nods in response.

We keep up a mild run through the forest until we reach a road, and then we follow the road south, keeping the ocean to our left. About ten minutes after beginning our run, I feel Natasha's and Reyna's presence coming from a walled compound on a cape. We arrive within viewing distance of the compound and see an enormous multi-story house through a large cast iron gate. I also see dozens of enhanced vampires with silenced P90 submachine guns, which confuses me.

"Tasha? Can you hear me!?" I call out in my mind.

"Cole...?" Natasha weakly answers.

"Hold on, Tasha. Jason and I are here!" I tell her.

"Cole... Reyna was stabbed... in her stomach," Natasha softly replies.

My left arm and right leg flush black as my helmet engages and I feel that bizarre sensation in my eyes. Hades will pay for this. I can understand wanting a little revenge on the guy who had been plowing your wife/ niece, but this is going too far.

"CT!? What's going on?" Jason asks in alarmed fashion.

"Reyna's been stabbed," I say with my 'Sith' modulated tone as I grip the hilts of both of the Diamond swords over my shoulders, and draw them. "And Hades is going to pay for it."

I flash towards the gates, vault over them, and cut an X through the torso of a vampire just before landing. As I land in the cobblestone courtyard, I turn and lop off the arms of the vampire behind me before bringing my Diamond sword through her neck. Before the other vampires have a chance to react, I hack apart three more.

(Dodge right)

I dive to my right as a vampire behind me opens fire, missing me and stitching up their comrade. I lop off his arms and horizontally bisect him at the waist before decapitating the vampiress that was just shot, when I hear the pounding of a large group of boots on cobblestone. As the volume increases from the side of the house, I quickly sheathe my swords and whip out my Obliterator. I rip it from right to left as the first of the group rounds the corner. Seven decapitated heads fly through the air as the bodies drop. I bring the Obliterator back around and rip through six more, leaving three vampires that are too shocked to move.

I race forward, jump, spin, and bring the steel toe of my strengthened right foot into the temple of one vampire, causing his head to explode before sending the rest of his body flying into the side of the house with a satisfying squish. After pulping the second vampire with a left hook, I notice that the third vampire is running away. Well, that just won't do! I cast the Obliterator forward like a fishing pole. The Obliterator punctures his chest before I pull back on the hilt, retracting the blade and dragging the vampire with it. I yank the Obliterator out, leaving a gaping chest hole that I fill with my left arm before starting suction to replace some of the blood that I gave to Jason.

"What are you doing?" Jason asks behind me.

"Draining this vampire of the little blood he has to replenish my own supply," I tell him and Jason picks up one of the suppressed P90s.

"I'll cover you while you do that. Let's move," Jason says and moves towards the house.

"Why are you using a gun?" I inquire.

"My powers aren't working too well here," Jason replies.

I follow after him while keeping up the drain. We head into the house and find that there isn't anyone here. I feel Natasha and Reyna on the floor below us, but I can't find the stairs.

(Door on your right)

I drop my blood bag, rewrap the Obliterator around my waist, open the door, and see a tile staircase. The stairs lead down to a concrete basement that is probably about five thousand square feet, with Reyna and Natasha chained to the back wall, one hundred feet away. They both look to be in fairly rough shape, but with the hole in Reyna shirt at stomach level... it's much worse. Then I notice something that just confuses me.

"Lord Byron?" I ask as he and Hades turn around, both dressed in suits for the wedding that they were supposed to be attending.

"So it's come down to this, has it? Well, let's get this over with," Byron says as he pulls a black epi-pen out of his pocket.

"Wait, wait, wait... I think you're forgetting something," Jason suggests.

"No, I'm not," Byron replies while removing his jacket.

"Yes, you are," Jason says.

"No, I don't believe I am," Byron replies.

"Where's your monologue?" Jason asks.

"I'm not doing one," Byron says.

"What!? You can't do that! Can you do that?" Jason asks before turning to me. "Can he do that?"

"Of course I can!" Byron replies.

"What about you? Do you feel like telling us what in the hell is going on?" I ask Hades.

"Uh... no, I don't think I do," Hades replies.

"Oh come on, you guys! This is bullshit!" Jason exclaims.

"Well, how about you answer one question," I suggest.

"Fine," Hades compromises.

"Was Byron in on this the whole time? Here for every meeting and knows everything about it? What I'm basically asking is if Byron befriended us and screwed us over, or if he was screwing us over while befriending us," I clarify.

"He was in on it the entire time," Hades says with a satisfied smile.

"Really man? We disposed of a dead hooker together! That was a bonding experience!" I exclaim and sigh.

"Well, don't kill him and I'll get us our answers once I kill the shit out of Hades. Oh, and take the Diamond swords. They'll be ineffective against Hades anyway," I tell Jason.

"Got it, bro," Jason replies, drops the P90, and pulls the Diamond swords from my back.

I slice open my right wrist with my ring as Byron stabs himself in the neck with the pen, causing his aura to turn a shade of bronze. Well that's new.

"Look out, Jason! Byron has a different strain of the enhancement and this one seems much stronger," I warn Jason as he sprints toward Byron.

Byron runs over to the back right corner and grabs a massive claymore that is five feet long and probably forty pounds of steel, but he still manages to swing it rather fast as he meets Jason. Jason gets both Diamond swords up in time to block, but the sheer force of the claymore is enough to send him flying back about fifty feet. Jason hits the ground and slides to a stop near my feet.

"You alright?" I ask.

"Surprisingly, yes. Your armor is freaking amazing!" Jason replies.

"Might I suggest a less direct approach? While my armor will protect against the edge of the claymore, it doesn't do as great against blunt weapon damage with that much force," I inform him.

"Right," Jason says and hops to his feet. I look back and notice that Hades is missing.

"Where's Hades?" I ask.

"He went down that way a couple of seconds ago," Jason says while gesturing towards an opening in the left wall.

"Thanks. Good luck, bro!" I exclaim and run towards the opening as my Mu-cutter completes.

As I reach the opening, I see a staircase that leads down. The spiraling staircase keeps going down for what seems like an incredibly long time, like a 'why not just install an elevator at this point?' long time. I consider slowing down in case Hades is lying in wait to spring a trap, but I realize that it's unlikely because fighting in such tight quarters would put him at a disadvantage, so I keep going. The staircase lights up when I reach the bottom and see that it has led me down to the beach. The light of the moon illuminates the fifty feet of sand to my right that leads to Hades and his relaxed posture with a wicked-looking black dagger in his right hand: the same dagger from my dreams.

"So what now, Feros? A moonlit duel on the beach?" Hades shouts.

"I was thinking I'd just kill you so I can go get married," I reply as flash forward and lunge at him, Mu-cutter drawn back.

Hades calmly raised the dagger and points it at me. I hope he doesn't think that I'm just going to impale myself on that... actually, I'm on a committed path since I have no way to change direction now that I'm airborne so I will hit the dagger, but it probably won't pierce my suit.

Hades's answer: Nope. A blast of water and electricity hits me in the chest and sends me flying into the water, skipping along its surface before dropping below it. The water starts churning and suddenly sucks me beneath the surface as I realize that this fucker shot me into a whirlpool! As a side note, it looks like Ganesha made the right choice when making my phone waterproof...

Little does Hades know, this actually gives me the advantage since I'm less than one hundred meters away, so I don't have a conceivable way out of this. Now I can just port behind him, surprise him, and quickly finish this. I reach back and touch my triskele, hoping that he hasn't moved from that spot.

I port behind Hades as he slams the Void dagger through my suit and into my chest, puncturing my left lung before jumping back to distance himself. I think this whole thing might've been an elaborate trap, considering that I'm essentially paralyzed with this dagger in my chest. Huh, that's funny... I don't really feel all that paralyzed.

"What? You thought I wouldn't know about your short ranged porting? Even if Apollo hadn't told everyone, I still already knew about it. I knew right after you used it against Veles and Perun thanks to a certain... acquaintance," Hades explains while slowly walking toward me, so I feign paralysis. There's no need to ruin the surprise.

"I suppose I should thank you... after all, without you, I wouldn't have been able to get away with killing Juno and Neptune. There are a few who still doubt your guilt, but after I claim that you attacked me and I was forced to kill you, who will argue?" Hades rhetorically asks, stopping just outside of my range.

"What is taking this thing so long!?" Hades asks in an exasperated fashion.

"It's because..." I mumble through gritted teeth, trying to restrain the consequences of porting short distances.

"What? I couldn't make that out," Hades says and gets closer.

"It's because..." I repeat.

"What?" Hades asks and steps right up to me.

"It's because I'm not paralyzed," I whisper and bring the Mu-cutter through his knees.

"AUGH!" Hades screams as I vomit blood.

I wonder why I can't stop that blood from flowing? I always know that it's coming, so why can't I keep it in?

(Consider it a sacrifice for short ranged porting. The act rearranges your organs and destroys the element in some of your blood that allows you to control it, so it is expelled out of your body as a byproduct)

I still don't really get it, but I have a speech to make and a god to kill.

"What? You thought a dagger made of the Void would work on me!? Bitch, I am the Void! I have two limbs made of the stuff and you thought that a weapon made of it would have the same effect on me as it does on gods!?" I shout as I step over him and raise my Mu-cutter.

"Just wait a moment, Feros! Don't do anything rash! You don't want to be responsible for destroying the Greek/Roman pantheon as well, do you!?" Hades screams.

Shit... he has a point. Hades's face contorts to a smug smile when he sees that he has me beat.

(Fret not, Master. Simply do to him as you did unto Horus)

"But I'd still be killing him, which will destroy the pantheon!"

(Trust me)

"Ha ha ha... do you think I give a shit about killing off the pantheon?" I ask and Hades's eyes go wide as horror strikes his face.

I bring the Mu-cutter up through each of his arms before slicing his chest open as Hades screams. I place my blackened left hand on the golden mass in Hades's chest and pray that Airi knows what she's doing. The golden mass turns into black smoke and melts the inside of Hades's chest cavity before getting sucked into my arm. I sit in the sand and wait for a few moments for signs that the world is ending... but nothing happens.

"Can I just pull this thing out?" I ask as I remember the dagger sticking out of my chest.

(Yes)

I pull the dagger out with my left hand, stopping the light flow of blood running down my chest.

"What should I do with it?"

(Smash it against the rock wall)

Trusting Airi's judgment, I do as she says. I slam the dagger against the rock wall repeatedly, which becomes increasingly difficult with only one lung. The Void dagger finally breaks like glass and all of the shards stick into my blackened left hand. An intense burning sensation in my left arm brings me to my knees as the shards seem to melt into my hand.

"AHHH!" I scream in a panic as the burning sensation envelopes my body.

This pain is so intense. I'd give anything for it to stop... anything to dowse the flames... I suddenly feel very wet. I open my eyes and see that a bubble of water is swirling around me. I quickly hold my breath, only to realize that I didn't need to before. Inhale... Holy shit! I can breathe underwater! The pain fades while I'm in awe. I gesture away with my left hand, and the water bubble flows off of me, back to the ocean.

This is pretty fucking sweet! I hold my left hand out and think of the electric-hydro cannon that Hades hit me with. A purple lightning bolt appears on the back of my left hand as a torrent of water and electricity shoots out of my palm like a fire hose. That's the same bolt that was on Jupiter's hand when I first met him! So the water control comes from Neptune? I suppose that makes sense... wasn't Neptune/Poseidon the god of earthquakes too? I lightly stomp the sand with my right leg and I feel the ground softly rumble. Okay, that's enough of that! I don't want to accidentally cause a tsunami.

(Focus, Master! Jason is still fighting)

Right! I grab Hades's husk and sprint up the stairs, my wet jeans feeling really heavy and chaffing my skin. I touch my jeans with my left hand and imagine them being dry as the water just flows out of the fabric. I reach the top to find a broken and beaten Jason on the right wall, roughly thirty feet from the girls, with Byron holding the claymore over his head.

"I'm sorry I have to do this, Jason," Byron says right before a blast of water forces his body to go flying into the back wall.

While dropping Hades's husk, I flash forward, cover Byron's mouth with my left hand, and pump my blood down his throat, which isn't hard because he starts lapping at my hand like a cat once my blood hit his tongue, unable to help himself. I knock him out before passing out beside him.

It's time to get some answers.

****

Chapter 26: Explanations

The scan skips the 'floating through darkness' part and goes straight to Byron's memories. I find that I am/ Byron is sitting in a dark room, next to a lit wood fireplace.

"Damn that azeman bitch!" Byron exclaims, his voice emanating from my throat.

"First she tries to take power away from me by using Feros to hold my court hostage, and then she survives my assassination attempt! Something needs to be done about this!" Byron says before taking a drink of scotch from a crystal glass that he holds in front of his face, watching the dancing fire light reflect off of it as he thinks.

"Indeed, something does need to be done," a familiar voice says from the corner of the room.

"Who's there!?" Byron demands.

"A friend," Jack Evari says as he steps out of the shadows, wearing an all-black suit with a maroon tie.

"Who are you!? How did you get in here!?" Byron frantically asks.

"That is unimportant... what is important, is eliminating the Azeman Queen," Jack Evari states.

"And how do you propose I go about that?" Byron asks in a curious, but cautious, fashion.

"When is the best time to wage a war? When the leader is mentally and emotionally compromised. So the question becomes, how can you mentally and emotionally compromise someone? By taking away something that is dear to them... _someone_ that is dear to them," Jack Evari answers.

"You are suggesting that I kill the Duchess Reyna before attacking the Azeman Queen," Byron clarifies.

"Yes, but you cannot kill her outright. That only accomplishes the fueling of rage, giving a cause to fight. No, you must take away the cause for fighting, take away a mother's cause for living, by taking away the Duchess Reyna in a way that doesn't implicate yourself," Jack Evari replies.

"How am I supposed to do that?" Byron inquires, somewhat enthralled by this mysterious man.

"All in due time... the first thing you must do is get yourself closer to the Queen by getting yourself closer to Feros. Prince Jason is getting married to Duchess Reyna. You should offer to plan his bachelor party by way of apology for the assassination plot that you 'allowed to slip by unnoticed'," Jack Evari says while using air quotes.

"Go to Niflheim's palace tomorrow. You will find both the Azeman Queen and Prince Jason there. Once that meeting is complete, meet me in San Francisco at 2pm. The Golden Gate will take you directly there. I'll meet you at the nearby Fisherman's Wharf," Jack Evari finishes and turns back towards the shadows.

"Wait, how should I address you?" Byron asks. Jack Evari turns around with a beaming grin.

"Just call me Jack... Jack Evari," Jack says and steps backwards into the shadows, his white teeth reflecting the fire light before disappearing with a coinciding blink from Byron.

The stream of memories fast forwards, past my meeting with Byron, and slows to a stop after he walks through the Golden Gate in Niflheim and appears underneath San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. Byron walks along the waterfront until he comes across the giant pier that is impossible to miss, mainly because of the high decibels of noise that all of the sea lions are making. Byron walks to the end of the wharf, unable to find Jack Evari. He turns around and Jack Evari appears from the side of a booth, wearing his signature all-black suit and maroon tie.

"I apologize. Another meeting of mine ran late. How did the bachelor party offer go?" Jack asks.

"They accepted," Byron replies.

"Good. Now it is your job to throw a bachelor party and become chummy with Prince Jason and Feros. Feros just lost his three year old daughter so this might be a good way to relate to him. This is all in effort to create something of a character alibi; making the very notion that you had something to do with Duchess Reyna's demise seem asinine. The overall plan is to kidnap Duchess Reyna in a way that doesn't appear to be a kidnapping. The way to do this is to make it look like she ran off with one Natasha Holmstrom: a friend of Feros and ex-girlfriend of the Duchess," Jack explains.

"So we write a goodbye letter to Prince Jason, kidnap the Duchess and the ex-girlfriend, and make it look like a lesbian murder-suicide," Byron adds.

"No, that's not good enough. If there is no indication of their relationship advancing, the two of them suddenly running off together won't make sense, which in turn will arouse suspicion. What we need to do is trick the family and friends into thinking that the Duchess and the other woman might be getting back together. Drugging them with Spanish Fly or another aphrodisiac would be most effective," Jack says.

"Well a bachelorette party is most likely being planned. I can have my people keep an eye on reservations, find out what club they are going to, and bribe the bartender into dosing the two girls' drinks with Mandy, powdered ecstasy, and nature should take over from there, leading them to show their sexual proclivities towards one another," Byron suggests.

"You are smarter than I gave you credit for. Follow through with that while I decide when the best time to take them will be. I'll be in touch," Jack Evari replies, rounds a corner behind a small booth, and presumably disappears.

The memories speed onward, passing by a conversation about a delivery of enhancements from Jack Evari for Byron's vampire military, before resuming their normal playback speed a few weeks later, after the bachelor party. Byron is in the room with the fireplace, accompanied by Hades and Jack Evari.

"King Byron, this is Hades, Lord of the Underworld. Hades will be assisting in your plot," Jack introduces.

"Why? What's his motivation for helping?" Byron questions with a suspecting tone.

"It's partially at my request since he owes me several favors after I gave him a dagger that allowed him to take total control of the Greek/Roman pantheon, and it's partially because Prince Jason seduced Persephone whenever she was in the Underworld," Jack explains. He's the one that gave Hades the Void dagger!?

"Airi, do you have any thoughts on this?"

(...)

"Airi?"

(Hmm?)

"What's up? You've been unusually quiet lately."

(It's nothing, Master...)

"I've discovered that Reyna and Natasha will be alone in the women's dressing room before the wedding tomorrow. Hades will port in a camera and pay off a random person to take pictures in front of the personnel that will be guarding the hallway leading to the dressing room, and to take the subsequent beating. With the hallway momentarily unguarded, Hades will make his way into the dressing room, grab the women, drop off the goodbye letter to Jason, and port them to a house in Syracuse that he has generously loaned us. You will be waiting there to help bind the girls and hold them in the basement while Hades ports you two to the wedding to make sure that you don't draw attention with your absence. After that, it's just a matter of leaving a suicide pact and drowning them using Hades new powers over water," Jack explains with a bright smirk as everything fades away.

****

I regain consciousness on the concrete floor of the basement to the sound of Reyna's sobbing as Jason comforts her.

"How long have I been out?" I ask as I notice that my arm and leg are back to their regular silver color and my helmet has disengaged.

"About fifteen minutes," Natasha somberly informs me while I look at Reyna as she cries and holds her stomach with both hands.

(You may wish to tell Reyna that the baby is perfectly healthy, courtesy of your blood. In fact, your blood is to thank for the relatively lively condition of all of them)

"REALLY!? THAT'S TERRIFIC!" I shout and everyone looks at me.

"Airi just told me that the baby is fine, Reyna!" I announce.

Tears continue to fall down Reyna's cheeks, but her expression has brightened significantly. She wraps her arms around Jason and hugs him.

"Ow! Not so tight!" Jason exclaims, holding onto the right side of his ribcage.

"Take off the jacket," I instruct as I walk over to him.

Jason unzips the jacket and holds his t-shirt up with his right hand. I make an incision in his ribcage with my ring before funneling my blood into his chest from my left hand.

"There, that should help patch you up," I look him over and notice that his left arm is bent at an odd angle, most likely because my jacket isn't armored on the left sleeve anymore. I move over to that side and get to work.

"So why did he do it?" Natasha asks as she kicks Byron and he groans in response, apparently coming to.

I concentrate my blood to Byron's spine and cut off his spinal cord in his lumbar before forming a silicon carbide disc to stop any possibility of it healing.

"He dosed you both with ecstasy so you guys would make out at the bachelorette party to corroborate the letter that was left saying that you ran away together. Then he and Hades were going to drown you and make it look like you committed suicide together. Hades was in it for the revenge against Jason and Byron was trying to put Maria in a compromised position so he could kill her and take control of the azeman," I report, not adding the part about Jack Evari until I know more.

"And I would have gotten away with it too if it weren't for your meddling blood!" Byron exclaims.

What is it with my life and fucking Scooby-Doo!?

Reyna stands up, grabs one of my Diamond swords off of the floor, and walks over to Byron. Byron tries to get up to run away, but finds he can't and starts to panic.

"Reyna wait!" I yell.

"You aren't stopping me from killing him, Cole," Reyna maliciously replies.

"If you kill him, won't you become Queen of the Vampires? Vampire hierarchy works like that, right? Whoever kills the current king becomes the successor?" I question.

"That is generally how it works unless the king steps down," Reyna replies.

"Is that really what you want?" I ask.

"What I want... is to hurt this fucker for trying to kill my baby!" Reyna viciously exclaims.

"And you can, but let your mother kill him. She already has the know-how to manage the vampires and you can have a normal life until the time comes when you inherit the throne," I explain.

"But..." Reyna says.

"Reyna! Do you really want your baby to grow up having spent no time with her mother because you were too busy?" I ask.

" _Her_ mother? It's a girl!?" Reyna asks excitedly. Of course she would only hear my slip up.

"Yes... now, do you want your daughter to grow up like you did?" I inquire, guessing that she probably spent more time with Babette than with Maria.

"No... but—" Reyna says.

"Go ahead and hack his limbs off if it makes you feel better. I can create an effective enough blood seal to stop the bleeding while we transport him to your mother so she can decapitate him at the wedding," I interrupt and Reyna's face lights up with a grim smirk.

Byron starts dragging himself away as quickly as he can with his legs limp behind him. Reyna slowly walks behind him, toying with him like a cat with a mouse before it rips off the mouse's head. Byron is propped up on his arms, dragging himself away, when Reyna hacks into his left elbow. She doesn't manage to go all the way through it on the first swing, but she does get it on the second. Byron screams as he collapses on his face. He rolls over and grabs his left nub, opening up his right elbow for Reyna. She slices through his right elbow on the first swing this time. I reallocate my blood to seal off the blood flow to his nubs as Byron screams pleasantly.

"Since I cut off his nervous system in his lumbar, he can't actually feel that," I tell Reyna when she starts trying to hack through Byron's right thigh. Reyna stops and turns to look at me when I'm talking.

"I know... but it makes me feel better," she replies with a shrug and turns back to her work. Ten swings later, she finally gets through the thick femur and moves onto the left thigh, doing the same after a dozen swings.

"Well... I feel a bit better..." Reyna announces while breathing heavily.

"I'm hungry... Cole? Do you mind?" Reyna asks.

"Go ahead. I'm not going to die from blood loss anytime soon," I say as I plop down on the concrete floor.

Reyna drops my sword and jumps into my lap before biting into the left side of my neck. She drinks for about five minutes before Jason speaks up.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we do have a wedding to attend," Jason reminds us.

"That's still on for today!?" Reyna asks in surprise as she detaches from my neck.

"Yeah, we told Maria and Hel to stall while we rescued you two," I say.

"Shit! What are we still doing here!?" Reyna exclaims and hops up while Jason picks up both of my Diamond swords and hands them to me.

I sheathe the Diamond swords across my back before throwing Byron's sorry ass over my shoulders and picking up Hades's husk, not knowing what else to do with it. Jason, Reyna, and Natasha grab onto my left arm and I touch my Haglaz rune, porting us to my bedroom in Nifleheim. Jason snaps his fingers, porting us to the guys' dressing room at the Citadel.

"Good, you guys are back!" Ryuji exclaims and a swirl of black mist announces Hel's presence.

"Alright, we've stalled for as long as possible, but the crowd is getting..." Hel trails off when she notices Hades and then her eyes go wide.

"Cole... is that Hades?" Hel asks like she's praying it's some sort of piñata.

"Yeah?" I reply. Hel ports out of the room in a swirl of black, and ports back a few seconds later.

"Persephone is still waiting with the guests like nothing happened, yet you killed the last head of the pantheon so she should be gone as well..." Hel says.

"I don't really know what's going on, but I absorbed the golden core in Hades's chest into my arm like I did with Horus. Then I broke the weapon that Hades used to kill his brothers and sister, and now I have the power of water and lightning at my fingertips," I explain.

"What!? How is this even possible?" Hel inquires in an astonishment that is out of character for her.

"What?" I ask, unsure of what's wrong.

"I think you somehow made yourself the successor of Neptune and Jupiter... most likely that of Hades and Juno as well. The only way that the pantheon wouldn't cease to exist is if there was a new head... which is you," Hel explains.

Shit... This is going to be trouble. I can feel it.

"Well, we can worry about that later. I think it's time we told the guests the truth and gave them a little entertainment," I say while patting Byron's back from his place on my shoulder.

"Could you please bring Maria here?" I request.

Hel nods and ports away before porting back with Maria less than a minute later.

"How do you feel about a little public execution?" I ask her. Maria takes a look at Byron and works out the situation.

"You know, I was just thinking to myself that this wedding didn't have enough blood," Maria says with a sly smile as her accent becomes extremely noticeable for a moment.

"Well, let's go give these kind people a show," I reply with the same surreptitious grin.

Maria and I walk out of the dressing room, up the stairs, and into the Citadel arena, where hundreds of chairs have been set up in the large meadow of wildflowers that used to be the arena grounds. I notice packs of people in the spectator seats as I notice several cameras that follow Maria and I the moment we enter. We walk down the aisle, stop in front of the raised platform, turn around, and set Byron on the ground before addressing the crowd.

"I do apologize for the delay of the wedding. The bride was actually kidnapped by King Byron as part of a ploy to try and take power from Queen Maria. Reyna is back, safe and sound, and the wedding will begin shortly, but first I'd like to announce that Queen Maria will be taking over King Byron's position as ruler of the vampires," I announce.

I turn to Maria, pull a Diamond sword from the sheath, bend down on one knee, and present the sword to her. Maria lifts the sword from my hands, I prop Byron up with my left hand grasping his hair, and Maria brings the sword through his neck with one clean slice.

"And anyone who has a problem with that can bring it up with me. Thank you," I say as I drop Byron's severed head, take my sword from Maria, and slide it back into its sheath.

"Oh, and can we get someone to clean this up? Thanks!" I exclaim as Maria and I walk away.

"Was that enough blood for you, Maria?" I ask once we are back in the tunnel that leads to the dressing room. Two ushers pass by us carrying trash bags and paper towels. Maria doesn't say anything and just smirks at me in response.

Chapter 27: And Finally, a Wedding

Fifteen minutes later, after porting Hades's husk to my bedroom and changing out of my bloody suit, I'm standing behind Jason and wearing a tuxedo with Ryuji behind me and Jericho behind him. Across the alter is Natasha, followed by Cheza, Naia, and strangely enough, Katie. All of them wearing matching black halter-top dresses made out of some shimmering material. How did Katie even get here? Movement to the right catches my eye. I turn and am met by a familiar face.

"Kira!? You're marrying them!?" I incredulously ask... oh, this explains how Katie got here.

"Don't look so astonished. I am the Incan goddess of marriage after all," Kira replies.

The quartet (featuring two violins, a viola, and a cello) starts playing, what else but Pachelbel's Canon in D, or as most people know it: that wedding song. Still don't know what I'm talking about? Picture a wedding... now picture the music... you are now listening to Pachelbel's Canon in D. It has been used in practically every wedding in the past seventy years or so.

Reyna emerges at the end of the aisle, being escorted by Babette in a steel grey strapless dress that shimmers as she moves. Reyna's strapless wedding dress is a haunting medley of lace.

"Dude, we need to hurry this shit up!" I whisper into Jason's ear.

"I'm seriously having war flashbacks over here! I keep hearing choppers and explosions and shit that aren't really there!" I exclaim.

Jason jerks his head away from Reyna's view, while bringing his closed fist up to his mouth to bite into the side of his finger in an effort to stifle his laugh. I have a sudden attack of brain freeze, causing me to grab the side of my head.

"Stop dicking around!" Cheza thinks to me. She must've had Airi impart the brain freeze... too bad I can do that too.

"Airi, if you'd be so kind."

Cheza suddenly tenses up and her cheeks flush, indicating that my plan worked. Babette helps Reyna up the steps before taking a seat in the front row next to Maria (trying not to cry) and Hel (looking happy, I guess). I spot Tia and Sara in the front row, as well as Aine, Lila, Charlotte, Dagda, Brighid, and Manannan mac Lir. I would be greatly confused by this if I didn't already know that Cheza and I were getting married after this.

"We are gathered here today to join the Azeman Duchess Reyna Reyes, and Niflheim's Prince Jason Mathews. Since we've all been kept waiting long enough, I'm going to skip the long-winded bull and get right to business. Do you, Prince Jason, take Reyna to have and to hold, _even though I'm sure you've both already done plenty of that,_ " Kira whispers. "...the sickness and health part isn't exactly applicable and neither is the 'as long as you both shall live' part since as one of you isn't technically alive..."

"Do you promise to stay together as long as you both remain in a state of animation?" Kira asks as a way of working around the 'living' part.

"I do," Jason and Reyna both say.

"If anyone has any reason that these two shouldn't be married, speak now or forever hold your peace," Kira addresses and waits for a few moments.

"Great. I now pronounce you demigod and azeman wife. You may kiss the bride," Kira says. Reyna and Jason kiss to a round of accompanying cheers.

"And switch!" Jason proclaims as he snaps his fingers.

The ground shifts beneath me and Cheza is suddenly standing in front of me wearing a white sequined wedding dress with Katie standing behind her, followed by Natasha, Reyna (still in her wedding dress), and Naia. Jason pats me on the shoulder and smiles at me.

"I already knew," I tell him.

"What!? How!?" Jason asks.

"Cheza thought that Natasha and Reyna had just run away together and didn't find it prudent to change her dress before getting my attention," I explain.

"Man... I was so looking forward to seeing your face..." Jason sulks.

"I'm confused. Am I marrying you and Chezarei right now, or you and Jason?" Kira scolds and we both abruptly shut up.

"Ahem... Do you take each other, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live, which probably won't be all that long considering the proficiency with which Cole pisses off the most powerful beings on the planet?" Kira asks.

"I do," Cheza says while I glare at Kira.

"As do I," I reply. That sounded infinitely nerdier than it did in my head and Cheza is looking at me with a giggling sort of smile.

"If anyone has any reason that these two shouldn't be married, speak now or forever hold your peace," Kira says and looks to her right, behind Cheza.

Natasha's face looks torn as her right hand toys with something on a chain around her neck. She opens her mouth, but abruptly closes it.

" _No, it's better this way... I can't be who is needed... Chezarei and Cole are perfect for each other, so I'll hold my peace... even if it breaks me,"_ Natasha thinks in the involuntary image she sends me.

"I now pronounce—" Kira starts to say.

"Hold on, Kira," I interrupt and Cheza starts looking really nervous.

I give her a wink to let her know everything is okay before I walk over to Natasha, who looks at me with confusion. Before she can say anything, I quickly embrace her.

"Tasha, I'm sorry... I can't be everything that you wanted, but know that I will always be your friend," I whisper into her ear. I feel her tears hit my earlobe before they roll down my cheek as Natasha turns her face towards mine.

"Idiot... don't worry about me and go get married," Natasha whispers.

I pull away from her and see a sad smile, but I can tell that she's happy for me. I return to my place across from Cheza and nod at Kira to continue.

"I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride," Kira says and I embrace Cheza before giving her light kiss.

_(Marriage 101: from now on, all orders will be given in question form, and remember that the nuance between her wanting you to do something, and her wanting you to_ _want_ _to do something, cannot be more different)_

I resist the urge to laugh while Hel stands up in the first row.

"This concludes the ceremony. The reception will be in one hour at Niflheim Palace," Hel announces.

Hel snaps her fingers, porting the entire first row and alter to the courtyard of the palace. The courtyard has been decorated with white flowers for the reception. A long table is at the back with about thirty round tables dispersed throughout the rest of the courtyard.

"Cole, I need to speak to you," Hel says and snaps her fingers, porting us to a sitting room that I'm almost certain is inside the palace, but I've never seen it before. She sits in a leather armchair and motions for me to sit across from her.

"We need to discuss what you are going to do," Hel says.

"About what?" I ask.

"You need to go tell the Greek/Roman pantheon about Hades's death and that you're now the unofficial supreme head of the pantheon..." Hel states in a tone that implies her thoughts on how that's going to go over, and the answer isn't 'smashingly!'

"I've already come up with a plan for that. What do you think of Persephone as the new ruler of Hades?" I inquire.

"I think she's capable enough for the job," Hel replies.

"Alright... well, I'm going to take Hades's husk to Mount Olympus. I might be a little late for the reception," I tell Hel and port to my bedroom.

I change into my jeans and jacket before grabbing Hades's husk, just in case.

"Airi, this is going to work, won't it?"

(Perhaps...)

I was hoping for a slightly more definitive answer... since I'm King of the Gods now, perhaps it's time I ported like one. I think of Mount Olympus, snap my fingers, and find myself at the gate.

"Cole?" Cheza questions.

"Don't worry. I'll be back in a little bit, Honey... Darling... Sweetness... we'll figure out pet names later... that is a requirement of marriage, right?" I ask.

"...Yes!" Cheza exclaims in a delayed fashion that makes me think she's lying.

I close the connection and snap my fingers again, thinking of the palace.

"YOUR NEW KING HAS ARRIVED!" I shout, but to no response. I think of everyone assembled in the courtyard in front of me and snap my fingers.

"I said your new king has arrived!" I announce and toss Hades's husk at their feet.

"Not for long!" Apollo exclaims as he draws back an arrow loaded in a bow that appears to be made of sunlight.

"Tsk tsk Apollo. Don't you realize that if I die, I take all of you and anything related to the Greek/Roman pantheon with me?" I rhetorically ask as my left arm flushes black, feeling slightly different than when it has before and with a noticeable lack of that bizarre sensation in my eyes.

I wave my left hand down in Apollo's general direction. A lightning bolt strikes down and fries him, rendering him unconscious. I chuckle as I show everyone the purple lightning bolt on the back of my left hand before it fades away again.

"Now, I do believe it is time for me to choose my consorts! Hmm..." I say as I inspect the Olympians while stroking my chin with my right hand.

"Diana, Vesta/Hestia, and Ceres/Demeter, meet me in my quarters i.e. Juno's former quarters," I order with a gesture to the Roman/Greek goddesses of the hearth, and of agriculture because they are the only two of the original six Olympians remaining. I walk past all of the stunned gods and into the palace.

"I say he's lying... let's just kill him!" someone whispers as I head down the hall towards Juno's quarters.

"No, he can't be. That lightning bolt belongs only to Jupiter so he must've inherited it along with the place as a head. It's the only way we'd still be around with Hades dead," another voice replies.

I walk into Juno's quarters and make my way to the bar to pour myself a drink.

"You wished to see us, Feros?" Diana asks.

"Lord Feros," I correct.

"You wished to see us, _Lord_ Feros?" Diana asks through gritted teeth.

"Take your shirts off," I command while mixing my drink.

I look over my shoulder and see that none of them have moved from their spots, lined up in front of the entrance of the living room. Diana is wearing her usual leather skirt and midriff shirt on the right; a woman that is about six inches taller than Diana at six feet tall with short, auburn-colored hair, and reddish brown eye color, wearing khaki shorts and a t-shirt is in the center; and finally a woman that is about 5'9" with curly dark brown hair and vibrant, leaf green eyes while wearing a toga-like robe is on the left.

"I could always take away your power and positions, effectively turning you mortal, if you'd prefer that," I say after turning back around to finish mixing my drink.

"Can he do that?" Vesta or Ceres whispers from the middle position.

"I don't know, but I don't want to chance it," the other goddess on the left replies as I hear her sliding off her clothing.

I finish mixing my drink and down it before turning around. I see Diana glaring at me defiantly with tears in her eyes, the middle woman glaring at me with flushed cheeks, and the left woman simply glaring. Based on what I know of their sexual experience in the mythos, Vesta/Hestia is in the middle and Ceres/Demeter is on the left. I circle around them like I'm inspecting a used car, my right hand stroking my chin. Once I'm behind Diana, I place my blackened left hand in between her shoulder blades. She flinches at my touch as I close my eyes.

Something resembling a computer screen pops up in my mind with two folders open. One folder is labeled 'Diana/Artemis' and the other is labeled 'Gods'. Inside the Gods folder is a list of subfolders with the names Horus, Pluto/Hades, Jupiter/Zeus, Juno/Hera, and Neptune/Poseidon. Inside the Diana/Artemis folder is a list comprised of: Hunt, Wilderness, Childbirth, Virginity, and Moon. All of the names in the Diana/Artemis folder are shaded and have little 'closed padlock' symbols next to them. I guess that means they're restricted.

I double-click on the Juno/Hera folder and see a list comprised of Women, Marriage, Queen, and Pantheon Head, with Queen and Pantheon Head listed in gold font, but none are restricted. I highlight all of them, drag, and drop them into the Diana/Artemis folder.

" _This protocol cannot be undone. Are you sure you wish to continue?" a_ popup asks. I click yes.

" _Are you really sure?"_ I click yes again.

" _Are you positive?"_ I click yes once again.

" _Don't say I didn't warn you," a_ final popup says before my eyes shoot open.

"What're you—ahh... ooh... mmm," Diana moans pleasantly like she's getting a massage.

On the other hand, it feels like someone just set my nerve endings on fire. It isn't as bad as with the dagger, but it still takes a great deal of control to not scream. After about thirty seconds, the pain stops and leaves me breathing heavily.

"What was that?" Diana asks.

"That? That was me transferring over all of Juno's power to you. You can put your shirt back on now," I tell her as I move on to Vesta.

I close my eyes and the same screen comes up in my mind, but the other folder says Vesta/Hestia this time and has Hearth, Architecture, and Family in it. I open up the Jupiter/Zeus folder that contains Sky, Lightning, Thunder, Law, Order, Justice, along with King and Pantheon Head in gold font. I start to drag and drop all of them, but I stop on lightning.

" _Lightning grants an immunity to electricity as well as a limited ability to use it," a_ popup informs me. Perhaps I'll hold onto that for now... I un-highlight King as well because I get the odd feeling that it might turn Vesta/Hestia into a guy like something out of one of the more twisted Japanese anime shows. I click confirm for the warnings and then a new one comes up.

" _Would you like to name this individual as the successor to the Jupiter/Zeus folder?" the_ new popup asks. Does this mean that the powers will be inherited by Vesta/Hestia if I die?

" _This means that the Jupiter/Zeus powers will return to their rightful place in the event of your demise," a_ new popup says. I click yes to both and my eyes shoot open.

"Last one," I say to myself, thirty painful seconds later, as I move on to Ceres and close my eyes.

Once again, same screen but with a folder marked Ceres/Demeter that contains Agriculture and Fertility. I open up the Neptune/Poseidon folder and see Sea, Earthquakes, Storms, Horses, and Pantheon Head in a golden font. I drag and drop all of that shit except Sea, which I assume grants power over water and lets me breathe under it. I press confirm to all popups, including the successor one, and my eyes abruptly open.

This time feels a bit more painful, most likely the three consecutive transfers are taking their toll. I finish and my legs buckle beneath me.

"Are you alright, Feros?" Diana asks.

"Yes, I'm fine. Why are you still topless? You guys can get dressed," I say while trying to keep my eyes on her face.

"I'm not sure what to think... you come in here acting like a womanizing asshole, only to give me Juno's power," Diana says.

"Speaking of, Vesta, you have all of Jupiter's power except for lightning because I might still need it. Ceres, you have all of Neptune's powers, except of that over the sea. I just couldn't pass up on being able to breathe underwater," I tell them.

"What about earthquakes?" Ceres asks.

"Too messy, so they're yours," I reply.

"Why?" Diana asks.

"Why go through the whole asshole scene? Because I had an image to enforce. Also because I don't want to be around when Venus discovers that I gave you Juno's power instead of her, even though she's the child of a Titan. As for frying Apollo, that was simply because, fuck Apollo. He took my damn leg!" I respond.

"Why give up all that power? You had the power of an entire Category 4 pantheon at your disposal. There was literally nothing that we could have said no to! Nothing that you could be denied! Why throw all of that away!?" Diana incredulously asks.

"And risk killing you all if I die? Not to mention taking everything related to the Greek/Roman pantheon with me as well. I never wanted the power to begin with and gambling with the lives of so many to keep it just seems selfish," I explain. All three goddesses look at me in disbelief.

"Besides, I kept the powers that I needed... Oh, and I also kept the title of King of the Gods because I was afraid that handing that over to Vesta might cause her to grow a penis or something, and it seems completely fucked up to chance turning one of the three virgin goddesses into a man or a hermaphrodite... It's mostly honorary though because I'll be staying out of the affairs of the Greek/Roman pantheon from now on," I inform them.

"Anyway, I need to get going. I have a reception to attend. See you all around!" I add and snap my fingers to port to the gate.

I touch my Haglaz rune and port straight to the Underworld, thanks to Hades's influence. Once in Hades, I port out to the courtyard in Niflheim as Jason and Reyna are about to open the last of the wedding presents. All of the other guests have already arrived and are seated at the tables as servants deliver drink orders. Jason sees me, snaps me into a tux, and waves me over to the head table.

"Now that the best man is finally back, let's eat some cake!" Jason announces.

A large four tier wedding cake is wheeled in. Jason and Reyna go to cut the cake together while I sit down at the long table beside Cheza and watch. As they cut the cake, I feel Cheza cool hand grab mine.

"I can't believe we're finally married... I actually get to call myself Chezarei Treyfair now!" Cheza thinks ecstatically.

"Right, about that..." I think as I look into Cheza eyes, which suddenly look incredibly insecure.

"Are you regretting getting married!? Is this about the topless goddesses? I wasn't going to say anything for a few days, but what was up with the topless goddesses!? Do you wish that we hadn't gotten married!?" Cheza asks in a panicked, rapid-fire fashion.

"Whoa, slow down. That's not it. I need to talk to you about taking your name instead of mine," I tell her.

"Is this because of your parents?" Cheza inquires.

"No, it's just that... Treyfair is practically synonymous with Feros and it carries a lot of weight in the supernatural world... a weight that I don't want to carry anymore," I explain and wait while Cheza mulls this over for a few moments.

"Cole Vaele... it does have a nice ring to it... I don't like it, mainly because I've wanted to be Chezarei Treyfair since I was ten, but I suppose all I really wanted was to be married to you," Cheza replies.

I smile as I stare into her icy-blue eyes, which I now officially belong to instead of just the other way around due to an errant use of mind-fucking magic.

"You two are creeping me out again..." Jason informs us as he sets down a piece of cake for me and Cheza before sitting down.

"I think it's cute," Reyna says while sitting down with a plate of cake for her and Jason.

"Thanks Reyna!" Cheza replies with a smile and takes a bite.

"Wait, was it really that obvious what Jason was referring to?" I ask.

"Yeah, you two are super noticeable," Reyna replies.

I start eating the red velvet cake, which I usually dislike, and find that it's surprisingly good.

"Hey Katie, how are things with The Agency?" I ask down the table.

"Good, thanks. I enjoy the work and it keeps me busy. The only problem I have is that school keeps taking me away from it, but Carla keeps insisting that I finish my degree so I guess I'll just have to tough it out..." Katie replies.

"Well, I'm glad that you're happy there. If you ever need any help with anything, just let me know," I tell her.

"Thanks, Cole," Katie responds and turns her attention to her cake.

After everyone is finished with cake, I ding my champagne glass with my fork while standing up. I suppose it's about time I got this train wreck started. Seeing as I didn't prepare a speech, I'm just going to have to wing it... train wreck indeed.

"Jason, when I first introduced you and Reyna to each other—while I was freaking out and threatening to blow her up from the inside and Jericho made that awesome joke about an azeman swallowing as much as she could take—I had no idea that you two would hit it off in the way that you did. By the way, Ryuji, Naia, I will be recycling the subject of this part of my speech for whenever you two get married. Just thought I'd let you know now..." I say, turning to my left to address Ryuji and Naia before turning back towards Jason on my right.

"Now, where was I...? Fuck it, I'll just cut this short and say that I've always thought of you as my brother, Jason, which makes Reyna my new sister-in-law... making Hel my stepmother by proxy? Whatever... anyway, welcome to the family, Reyna. I look forward to playing the part of the creepy, doting uncle that brutally slaughters anyone who has the gall to harm you or your children. Cheers!" I toast.

"It looks like I'm a little late," a familiar voice announces as he steps out of the shadows, wearing his signature all-black suit and maroon tie:

Jack motherfucking Evari.

Chapter 28: Revelations

"Father!? What are you doing here!?" Hel demands and a ton of shit starts making sense.

"What, am I not allowed to attend the wedding of my only grandson? Oh, wait! I suppose that you are my grandson-in-law now, aren't you?" Loki proclaims, directing his attention at me. He is technically correct... Holy shit! It just dawned on me that Jason and Cheza are cousins!

"Ah, Chezarei, my sweet granddaughter. You were perfect, did you know that? Until Shiva and Parvati meddled in my affairs, you were my perfect experiment; one that I haven't been able to replicate... oh well! Such is life," Loki says while staring at Cheza in a way that makes me want to punch him.

"You! You've been behind all of this! The Templars, the kitsune, the Greek/Roman murders, you even helped plan to have Reyna and Natasha kidnapped! Why!?" I demand.

Loki walks right up to me and leans in. I don't have my armor or my holster. This is one of the worst possible situations I can imagine fighting him in.

"Why? It was all for you! I had to make life amusing for you!" Loki exclaims in a hushed tone.

"I consider nothing that you did to me or my friends as amusing," I reply with a stern tone.

"I'm not talking to you," Loki says and I give him a confused glare.

"I know that bitch can hear me. Tell her that I'll make sure to tear it all down before I return to the Void to stop her. Of course, I'll be sure to make life interesting for her newest pet too. I wouldn't want her getting bored!" Loki exclaims with a malicious smile.

"If that was your aim all along, why did you start a war between the gods?" I question.

"That? That was to simply grab her attention and starting a war between her 'children' worked out quite well," Loki replies before turning to walk away, but then he stops.

"By the way, did you enjoy my little present?" Loki asks as he turns back around.

"What present?" I reply.

"Why, the girl of course! Did you think it was mere coincidence that she was at that warehouse? I knew that The Agency was closing in on that place, so I gave all of the minions there a new batch of my serum so that The Agency wouldn't stand a chance, forcing them to bring you in. Though, I'll admit that I hadn't been expecting you to come until after the initial confrontation. I was a little worried when they nearly killed her, but then you arrived just in time and got attached to her, just as I had planned. I gave you a gift... and then I gave Horus the order to simply, _take it back_ ," Loki informs me with a satisfied gleam in his eyes and a wicked smile.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!!" I scream as I fling myself over the table at him while my helmet engages and my arm turns black as I feel my eyes do the same.

I throw a left hook at his face, only to have his head turn to smoke as my fist passes through it. The smoke quickly passes around me and then Loki hits me from behind, sending me crashing into a round table. After getting champagne and frosting on my tux, I pick myself up.

"Someone looks a little dark, don't we?" Loki taunts, having reformed from the smoke.

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING FACE!" I yell as I charge at him, only to have him turn to smoke before he sends me crashing into another table while people try to get as far away from us as possible.

"Ha ha! You haven't even realized it yet, have you!?" Loki asks, squatting down near me and looking ecstatic from some revelation.

"Realized what!?" I shout at him.

"What the Void is doing to you every time you channel it—how it's taking over your aura! What do you think will happen when it finally devours all of the silver cracks? Will it succeed in taking you over completely?" Loki smugly questions.

"I won't allow it!" I reply.

"Wow... you are dumber than I give you credit for, did you know that? I've seen you as something of a nemesis, but you can't even see what's in front of your face! Won't allow it... psh! She's already taken over half of your limbs and set up shop in your mind! Or has she taken over that as well? Would you even know if she has?" Loki inquires.

"No, Airi isn't controlling me! I'm making my own choices!" I yell.

"Choices? Ha... hahaha! That is rich! Your 'choices' are whatever she wants you to perceive them to be! You're just a puppet, dancing for her amusement!" Loki retorts.

I'm about to deny it, but then I really think about it. The majority of the conflicts between Cheza and I were due to misunderstandings that Airi played some part in orchestrating. When I found Addie, I blacked out, waking up only after I had saved her and held her in my arms, and since my Drive was gone, that was Airi's doing. She even led me into thinking that handing Addie over to Carla would be harming her! Looking back, she's always been pushing me towards decisions that aren't exactly the best choices for me, but what would be the most interesting from a bystander's point of view.

"We're not so different, you and I. You are being manipulated by her, just like I was. I broke out of her field of manipulation and decided to choose for myself. What are you going to do? Are you going to be a man and choose? Or are you going to continue to be a puppet and obey? A man chooses, a puppet obeys..." Loki whispers and turns to walk away.

"I'm not falling for it, Loki! I'm going to kill you for hurting my friends... FOR TAKING ADDIE FROM ME!" I shout as I stand up, hold my left arm out, and plant my right leg forward.

A dozen black tendrils shoot out from my arm and leg, shredding my tux sleeve and pant leg. They hit Loki, only to have him turn into smoke and spin around them. He flashes back towards me and picks me up by my throat.

"You don't have enough strength to kill me, especially after you foolishly gave away the powers of the Greek/Roman pantheon that Hades worked so hard to get. Since you seem hell bent on seeing me as the bad guy, I'll let you in on a little secret: If you help me take that bitch down... I can bring the girl back," Loki whispers with a smile as my eyes go wide.

Dozens of black ice spikes suddenly erupt around us and slam through Loki. He turns to smoke, dropping me as he floats away from the spikes.

"Think about it," Loki's voice calls out as the smoke disappears and Cheza rushes to my side.

"Cole... you can't believe what he said," Cheza thinks beside me as she places a hand on my shoulder.

"I don't... at least, I don't think I do... Regardless, I can't go along with it when his ultimate goal is to destroy everything to hurt Airi out of spite. Speaking of which, Airi? I think it's about time you finished that story now," I suggest.

(As you have already worked out, I am the girl in that story. I ate the boy, compressed him down into energy, and sent him to earth to learn to love this place as I have. Sadly, he could only focus on revenge)

"And what about escalating conflicts between Cheza and I or manipulating me?"

(I didn't do that... at least, not that much... and aren't you and Cheza stronger now because of it? Case and point: if I wanted things to be more entertaining rather than help your relationship in the long term, I would have made it so Cheza 'overheard' you 'talking' about waking up next to Lila. While it would've been humorous, it also would've been extremely detrimental)

"I suppose that is true, in a way. Is there anything else I should know?"

(Yes, but it is not something for me to tell)

"What do you mean?"

(Wait for it... three, two, one)

"Cole, your father needs to speak with you immediately," Nagi says as she appears.

"Alright, give me and Cheza a moment to go change," I request.

"Actually, he specifically told me to only bring you..." Nagi uncomfortably replies.

"Nagi? Can you take me to see Parvati? I'd like to apologize for not telling her about the wedding," Cheza requests and Nagi smiles in response.

"While Lord Shiva said to only bring Cole to see him, he didn't say anything about Chezarei coming along to Mount Kailash to see Parvati," Nagi says.

"Alright, come on," I reply.

I touch my Haglaz rune, porting Nagi, Cheza, and I to the bedroom. I quickly change into jeans and a t-shirt, but Cheza decides to continue wearing her dress. Once dressed, I port the three of us to Saraswati's house.

"We're kind of on a schedule so I'll just take us from here," Nagi says and ports us to Mount Kailash instead of having to wait a minute.

"Cole, if you could take us all to the house," Nagi requests.

I snap my fingers and we appear in the kitchen area of my parent's underwater house. My mother is in the kitchen and turns around when we port in. Her eyes well up with tears when she sees Cheza in her wedding dress.

"You look so beautiful!" Parvati squeals as she runs over and hugs Cheza.

"Nagi... I thought I gave you strict orders to only bring Cole," my father says with an irritated tone.

"You did, Lord Shiva; however, Chezarei requested to speak with her new mother-in-law and I thought Parvati would be upset with me if I denied that request," Nagi says while bowing. Shiva still looks irritated as he turns his attention to me.

"Come, we have much to discuss," my father says and snaps his fingers.

We port into a room with no doors or windows, just two chairs and perceivably infinite black space.

"I need you to listen carefully and nothing of what I'm about to tell you is to leave this room," Shiva tells me.

"This is a 'get you in serious trouble with Parvati' type of secret, isn't it?" I ask. My father doesn't say anything in response, but something tells me I'm right. "Fine, I won't tell mom. Now what do you need to tell me?"

"It's about your origin," Shiva starts.

"Saraswati already told me. Mom wanted another kid so I was a compromise that could be used to fight Loki, sort of like you did with Murugan," I recall.

"No, that's what Saraswati and your mother believe. I specifically made you as you are, with close ties to the Void and without godliness, on purpose. You coming out with the silver aura of a god-made sentient being was no mistake," Shiva explains.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"You were made to be a vessel for the being you call Airi so that it could send Loki back to the Void. For some reason, it hasn't done that. So, now it's up to you to take out Loki," Shiva says and I let that wash over me for a few moments before swallowing hard.

"Why me?" I question.

"You are literally the only one that can do this. As much as I hate to admit it, if I fought Loki, I'd either end up being killed, or destroy the world, which is exactly what he wants. Any god that goes up against him will ultimately lose because he is a personification of the Void. He can break gods down to their core components with little effort. That can't occur with you because you aren't a god," Shiva explains and I think for several moments.

"Alright... find Loki... and I'll take him out," I reply and Shiva gives a curt nod in response.

"I'll let you know when he's found."

...

Chapter 29: Epilogue

[November 26th]

"So you have everything, right? Your phone? Reyna has enough blood?" I ask after porting Jason and Reyna to Tahiti while noticing that the last traces of the sun are creating a beautiful medley of colors across the skyline.

"I've got the three two-liter bottles in my bag. Thanks, Cole," Reyna says.

"I've got the phone and we'll just give you a call when we're done," Jason adds.

"Alright... well, your aura looks good so I'll see you guys later. Have fun!" I exclaim and touch my Haglaz rune.

I find it kind of funny that I was able to port to Tahiti, yet I still have no idea what continent it is even on. I port back to the room and fling myself onto the bed with a sigh.

"You know that he's only going to be gone a few days, right? Now..." Cheza starts as she throws her leg over my waist.

"Can we start our honeymoon?" Cheza coyly asks.

"I was sighing because I'm not looking forward to what I have to do next..." I reply.

"And what is that?" Cheza inquires.

"I have to go visit Persephone..." I reluctantly say and see Cheza's distasteful gaze. "Don't give me that look! I need to name her the Greek/Roman goddess of the Underworld and transfer power!"

"That happens to require forcing her to take her top off," Cheza states.

"Which _coincidentally_ requires skin contact with their torso. I could make contact with the front, if you'd prefer that," I reply with a sly grin.

"I'm coming with you," Cheza tells me.

"I figured you'd say something like that..." I groan. "Fine, let's get going."

I grab Cheza's hand and port us to the front door of the Hades district's palace, forgetting that we were lying down so my back hits the stoop with Cheza still on top of me. She stands, gives me a hand up, and I ring the doorbell.

"I might have to make a quick trip to Mount Olympus to convince her to let her guard down, in which case, I want you to wait here," I tell her before the door opens.

"How can I help you?" a gorgon maid asks.

"I need to see Persephone. It's important," I tell her.

"Right this way," the gorgon maid says and escorts us back to the room that Jason and I were in yesterday morning. Persephone and Ceres walk into the room a few minutes later, each wearing a black silk robe.

"Oh good, you're already here, Ceres. I was thinking that I'd have to go all the way to Mount Olympus to get you to explain things now that I can't play the part of spoiled god-king," I state while ignoring the question of why they are both wearing robes.

"Spa day," Persephone says after reading my expression.

"Right... anyway, if you could slide your robe down and turn around, we can get this over with," I reply.

"Why?" Persephone asks.

"I think he's saying that he's going to make you the new ruler of Hades, dear," Ceres interjects.

"Exactly. You will be free to come and go from the Underworld as you please, and you'll be the new goddess of the Underworld, as well as a head of the Greek/Roman pantheon," I add.

Persephone turns around and slides her robe down her arms, exposing her upper back somewhat reluctantly. I place my left hand in between her shoulder blades and my arm turns black as I close my eyes. The same screen pops up again, except that my folder only contains Horus, Pluto/Hades, Lightning, Sea, and King now. I click open the Hades folder: Underworld, Dead, and Riches with Pantheon Head and Ruler of Hades in gold font. I drag and drop everything into Persephone's folder and click confirm.

"Augh!" I exclaim, just a notch below screaming.

This is much closer to the burning sensation I felt when I absorbed the dagger, but not quite as bad. Maybe I should have waited a few days before doing this again... or is this because I waited a day? What would have happened had I transferred Horus's folder?

"Cole!" Cheza exclaims.

"I'm alright. It will be over in a few seconds," I think while gritting my teeth. Thirty seconds later, the pain stops.

"Alright... I think... I'm going... to go take a nap now," I manage to get out before grabbing Cheza's hand, and porting us back to our bedroom. I kick off my shoes and plop down on our bed.

"Are you okay, Cole?" Cheza asks as she lies down beside me.

"Yeah, I think I'll just rest for a while."

...

[January 30th]

Now that things in my life have settled down, I port to Niflheim's palace to ask Hel to summon Pinga. I could ask Natasha to set up a meeting with her grandmother, but we haven't really spoken since the wedding so it would feel weird to ask her for a favor now. Hel calls Pinga, and I wait in the sitting room for about twenty minutes.

"Hey Cole, what did you need?" Pinga asks when she arrives.

"I need you to help me find the 1437 people that were casualties of my blast in Ilulissat," I answer.

"I can do that. Adlivun's ruler, Sedna, tends to keep records on things like this. I'll go see what I can dig up," Pinga replies.

"Thanks," I say.

"Not a problem. What are you planning on doing with the information?" Pinga asks.

"I plan on visiting each of them, and telling them that I was responsible for their deaths. I don't expect them to forgive me, but simply having someone to blame might appease them," I reply.

"I see... I'll be right back," Pinga says and ports away.

Pinga comes back thirty minutes later with a list of nine hundred people.

"The others have already chosen to move on," Pinga informs me.

"This is going to take a while, but I owe it to these people to visit them," I say.

"Good luck, Cole," Pinga replies.

Over the next three months, I visit all nine hundred people on the list without telling Cheza. I don't want her to know because she won't want me to blame myself, or worse, she'll blame herself for what I did. Luckily, I've been porting to Niflheim on a daily basis for Reyna's pregnancy feedings so that the daily trips don't look suspicious and I can explain away the extended time by saying that I'm hanging out with Jason.

The majority of the people on the list show animosity towards me: they punch me, slap me, kick me. Others break down into tears and tell me that I took everything from them, which isn't untrue... Several of the older people on the list forgive me, but it does little to raise my spirits after visiting an eight year old boy. He was on the outskirts of the blast and was killed, but his parents survived. He told me that he's waiting to welcome his parents when they arrive...

Once I've visited everyone on the list, I travel to Ilulissat. I arrive in a ghost town. The streets that I had walked through a little less than two years ago are covered in ice... the half that are left after the blast, that is. With the port frozen over and half of the buildings destroyed, the town has been abandoned. I find a memorial slab at the edge of the damage from the blast: a large piece of granite standing ten feet high that has the names of the people who died. I set the flowers I brought down on the base of the column and I place my hand on it.

"I'm sorry, everyone... I'm sorry for the pain and hardship that I've caused you all... I welcome any and all hatred that you have if you need someone to blame to feel any relief."

...

[July 9th]

After waiting in the kitchen of Niflheim's palace for about an hour or so after porting Cheza and myself there from our new apartment in Flagstaff Arizona, Jason comes down the hall.

"Hey Cole? Could you come here for a second? Reyna and I need to talk to you," Jason says.

"Hey bro! So, I got her this rabbit, a deck of playing cards, a tea set, and I got myself this bitchin' hat!" I say while pointing to the white stuffed rabbit in my hand and then at my green velvet top hat that is marked 10/6 while walking down the hall. "You guys are still naming her Alice, right? This joke only makes sense if she is actually named Alice."

Jason remains silent as I follow him down a different hall that I can't remember if I've ever been through, before stopping in front of a set of double doors. Jason snaps his fingers and two drinks appear in his hands before he gives me one.

"What's going on?" I ask, suspecting that something is up.

"Drink first," Jason replies and downs his drink. I do the same and look at him, waiting for answers.

"One more," Jason says, refills our glasses with a snap, and downs his.

"Better make it another," Jason adds and repeats. We've both done the equivalent of about nine shots now so I think that's about good for whatever he needs to tell me.

"Maybe one m—" Jason starts.

"What is it already!?" I interrupt and Jason sighs in response. That is not a good sign.

"Do you remember how we had that orgy with Natasha, Reyna, and Rei about nine months ago? And how Reyna found out she was pregnant about a week later?" Jason asks. I see where he's going with this.

"Bullshit... no way... what makes you think it's mine?" I ask and Jason sighs again before opening the doors.

I see Reyna lying in a hospital bed with Sara nearby, whom I brought down to the Underworld about a week ago because the baby was due. What attracts my attention is the blanket-wrapped bundle in Reyna's arms, as well as her tired and possibly shocked face as she looks at the bundle. I get closer while completely expecting this thing to look like Cthulu.

I let out a sigh of relief when it looks like a normal mochaccino baby girl, and then I see her eyes... her _silver_ eyes. The stuffed rabbit slips from my hands in shock, and falls to the floor. I focus and see a silver outline, along with an azeman center.

For the first time in months, since starting my medication, I start to have a hallucination about Addie. Cheza suddenly embraces me from behind and ends it before it can start.

"Thank you for always being here when I really need you, Cheza. I know how to handle this," I think.

"Nope!" I announce.

"Nope, what?" Jason asks.

"She's not mine. Airi just explained that her eyes and her silver aura are just a result of her basically being soaked in my blood," I lie.

I'd really love Airi's input right about now, but she has been rather absent lately.

"Oh thank the gods! I thought we were going to have to get Jerry Springer up in this bitch, only to have him reveal a twist in which neither of us is the father, nor the other eleven black guys that would have been tested!" Jason exclaims and I start laughing my ass off to hide my true feelings:

Horror and relief with a tinge of sadness. Things are better this way... she'll be safer if she's not my daughter...

"Chezarei? Cole? Jason and I have something we need to ask you," Reyna says.

Jason's expression becomes serious as he goes around the side of the bed, grabs Reyna's hand, and looks towards Cheza and I.

"Will you two be Alice's godparents?" Reyna asks. Fuck... giving her closer ties to me is not what I wanted...

"Of course we will! Did you imagine I would pass up a chance to become a doting Uncle/ Godfather? Now let me hold my goddaughter/ niece!" I exclaim as Reyna and Jason laugh. I take the baby Alice and hold her gently, fear acting as a giant weight on my chest.

Fear that I'll crush her tiny form.

Fear that I'll ruin her.

Fear that I'll be responsible for her death.

I snap out of it so that I don't give anything away.

"You're so cute, Alice! I'm going to dote you into loving me and only me, yes I will! I won't let any other man get close to you, except for your daddy," I coo as Alice looks up at me with an expression that clearly says 'Who is this fucker that isn't my mom? How do I handle this? Should I cry? I think crying is a good bet.' I touch her nose with my right hand and her expression softens.

"Bro, you're already reaching disturbing levels of creepy and she isn't even talking yet!" Jason exclaims with a worried expression.

"No, let him get it out of his system now, before she grows into a teenager and it becomes truly creepy," Reyna intercedes and we all laugh.

...

[October 10th]

I climb into the bed of our two bedroom apartment in Flagstaff that still has boxes stacked in the corner, despite having moved in four months ago.

"Just another year of this and I'll finally be done with my degree," I say to Cheza.

"Don't forget that I still have three years," Cheza replies from the master bathroom, muffled by her toothbrush.

"I know. I'll be doing my graduate degree at Northern Arizona University too so I won't be going anywhere," I tell her as she finishes in the bathroom and climbs into bed.

"What about Loki?" Cheza asks as she turns off the light and snuggles into my side.

"What about him? It's been almost a year and my father still hasn't contacted me about him. There's not much else we can do besides live our lives until we find Loki. Then I'll kill him and we'll return to our lives," I reply.

"You make it sound so easy... Cole, you know what today is, but you haven't said anything about... do you want to talk about Ad—" Cheza starts to say.

"No, I really don't..." I softly interrupt.

"Okay, Cole... I'm here if you need me," Cheza gently replies before she drifts off to sleep.

Cheza's right. I've been dicking around for the past year, but I'll need to be on top of my game if I want to have any hope of defeating Loki. What can I do though? With what my father said about being a vessel for Airi, and what Cheza said about my aura getting darker, I don't doubt that Loki could have been telling the truth about my use of the Void. However, if I don't use it, I'll be no match for his power.

"Airi... If I continue using the Void... If it takes me over... What will happen?"

(That is something that even I don't know the answer to...)

"How do you not know? Aren't you and the Void basically the same?"

(I am but a mere aspect of the Void, something like a personification of it. As such, I don't know what the result will be... however, you are correct: you will never defeat Loki without using the Void)

"So I guess I really don't have a choice then. I either avoid the Void and the world gets destroyed, or I let the Void in and find out what happens."

(That is the gist of it)

"Well then... Let's get started," I reply as I open the gate that has remained closed for nearly a year. A tingling sensation envelopes my body as I watch my arm turn black and feel my eyes flush with the Void.

When Loki finally shows up, I'll be ready.

[End of Book 4]

[Cole's evil twin will be revealed on the next Days of our Lives ]

References

Have you come across something in this book and thought 'I know I've heard that before, but I can't remember where it's from'? Well that's what this section is for! I have marked down every reference in this book that wasn't self-explanatory so that you don't have to wake up at 3am and shout "Got it!" when you finally remember.

1: While I may not agree with some of the things that Vladimir Putin has done or with some of his political stances, as a person, he is admittedly badass for the following reasons:

He's flown planes, fought fires, and nearly crashed an F1 racecar; incapacitated a wild tiger with a tranquilizer pistol, tagged a whale with a crossbow in a rubber dingy, and also tagged a polar bear; beat the Japanese in Judo, a martial art they invented; was compared to Batman online, considered it an insult; and finally, a country that wasn't Russia named a mountain after him and as thanks, he climbed the freaking thing.

You will never see a US President doing anything as awesomely crazy as any of those things. The only US President that can compare to that level of badass-ness is Teddy Roosevelt.

2: _Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End._

3: From Steven Spielberg's animated show _Animaniacs._ The Warner Brothers, Yakko and Wakko, would always say that whenever they saw the nurse of Dr. Scratchansniff.

4: _Foxy Lady_ by The Jimmi Hendrix Experience.

5: Cthulu is an elder god from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulu Mythos and is described as a human/dragon with an octopus head and wings. It's basically a flying tentacle monster.

6: This is a reference to my mother, who told me "with the frequency that you kill off the main character and bring him back, it's like I reading one of my Soaps!" If you aren't familiar with _Days of our Lives_ , it's an American soap opera that has been running since 1965 that frequently kills off its characters when the actors leave, only to have the characters miraculously come back to life when the actors return, or so I'm told.

Underworlds

The Underworld is set up like a giant greyscale city where each underworld from every pantheon is a district of the city. These are the districts mentioned in this book and the mythologies to which they belong.

Adlivun: Inuit Underworld, described as frozen wasteland ruled by Sedna. Souls brought there by Pinga were said to have to stay for one year before being able to move on.

Duat: Egyptian Underworld said to be geographically similar to Egypt, but with lakes of fire, walls of iron, and trees made of turquoise. Ruled by Osiris and home to several gods, including Anubis.

_Elysium:_ Greek Underworld's higher plane of afterlife for demigods, heroes, or those chosen by the gods. Also known as the Elysian Fields.

_Hades:_ Greek Underworld that was originally described as dark and misty, and was the location where mortal souls would end up after crossing the river Styx by paying the ferryman, Charon. Ruled by Hades.

_Iriy:_ Slavic Underworld's plane of paradise ruled by Veles. Said to be a part of _Nav_ in the _Book of Veles_.

Mag Mell: Celtic plane of paradise where Manannan mac Lir is originally from. Said to be an island far to the west. Passage to Mag Mell is said to be attained through death or glory, similar to the Norse's Valhalla.

Mictlan: Aztec Underworld ruled by Mictlantecuhtli. Described as being far to the north and comprised of nine levels. Souls of the dead had to endure trials that included winds that tore off flesh, rivers of blood, and jaguars.

_Nav:_ Slavic immaterial world/ world of the dead.

Niflheim: Norse Underworld for those who didn't die in battle. A realm of ice and cold ruled by Hel.

Acknowledgments

First of all, I'd like to thank my sister for the inspiration for Chapter 17. I'm sure that's the natural course I would have taken had her venture in dress shopping taken a week straight.

I thank my friends and family for their input on the book and the book's cover.

I give my thanks to all of you that have read the series and enjoyed it. I ask that you please tell your friends about the books and write a review. The review doesn't need to be long. Simply having a review there at all helps me spread my story around and provide some entertainment to the world.

About the Author

A.L. Bridges was born and raised in Washington state. He is currently attending a university in Arizona, focusing on finishing his degree in biomedical sciences, and writing in his spare time.

Feel free to email him at albridgesauthor@gmail.com with comments, criticisms, or suggestions.

For updates on the latest books, visit http://albridges.blogspot.com

or follow him on Twitter @Albridgesauthor

Excerpt from _An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed_

Chapter 1: And the answer is...

[December 18th]

"Thanks for offering to watch her for the weekend," Reyna says appreciatively.

"Yeah, thanks. Alice has been a bit of a handful since her fangs started coming in," Jason agrees.

"Of course! How could I say no to watching my niece?" and the girl who is possibly my daughter.

"Where is she?" I ask.

"In her room playing. ALICE!" Reyna calls out.

I hear bare feet slap against the obsidian flooring on the second floor of Jason and Reyna's house. When they decided that they needed their own space, Hel built them a two story house... on the palace grounds so they wouldn't be too far away.

"UNCLE COLE!" Alice squeals as she runs at me, stuffed white rabbit in hand. I pick her up and spin around as she squeals louder. I pull her in and give her a hug before simply supporting her up so Reyna can talk.

"Alright, Alice. Daddy and I are going to be gone for a day so I want you to be a good girl for Uncle Cole, okay?" Reyna asks. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Jason wink at Alice and she gives an understanding nod in response.

"Okay lady!" Alice replies and a smile crosses my face.

"Don't call me lady, Alice. I'm your mother," Reyna says.

"Okay lady! I love you, buh-bye!" Alice exclaims and I start laughing as Jason and Reyna grab their bags.

"You can pay me whenever," Jason whispers as he passes by me.

And here I thought that he couldn't do it. Jason snaps his fingers and disappears in a swirl of black mist with Reyna.

"So what do you want to do, Alice?" I ask.

"Let's watch TV," Alice replies and squirms in my arms to be put down.

I set her on the ground and she runs off towards the living room while carrying the fluffy stuffed white rabbit that I gave her on the day of her birth. I follow her and sit on the black leather couch before picking her up and setting her next to me after she tries and fails to climb onto it. After turning the TV on and changing the channel to cartoons, I settle in for some quality time with my goddaughter/ niece/ possibly actual daughter.

"Where's Auntie Rei?" Alice asks about ten minutes later.

"She had to work so it'll just be you and me," I tell her with a smile while looking into her piercing silver eyes.

Since Cheza graduated from Northern Arizona University last May, she's been working as an operator for The Agency. Naturally, I didn't approve.

****

"No, Cheza. I can't let you do this," I said after she informed me of her plans.

"Let me do this?" Cheza repeated with an angry tone.

"Sorry, I meant I don't want you to do this," I replied.

"It's not your choice to make, Cole. It's mine and I want to be an operator. I can handle myself and nothing is going to happen when I have a bulletproof suit," Cheza said.

"Yeah, but it doesn't cover your head!" I pointed out.

"Then I'll wear a helmet!" Cheza replied.

"All helmets have vulnerabilities. One shot to the eyes and you're dead," I said.

"Except with your helmet," Cheza said with a smug smile.

"Except with my helmet..." I saw where she was going with this.

"Please, Cole?" Cheza asked with the pouty look that she knows I can't say no to.

"*Sigh* I guess we're making a trip to Mount Kailash," I answered.

Cheza smiled at me and grabbed my hand. I touched my triskele to port us to Mount Kailash from our apartment in Flagstaff, Arizona. Once we arrived, I snapped my fingers and ported us to my parents' underwater house.

"Cole! Chezarei! What a nice surprise! Can I get you two anything to drink?" my mother, Parvati, asked when we appeared in the kitchen.

"Actually, I have a favor I need to ask of you," I replied.

"What is it?" Parvati inquired.

"Cheza wants to be an operator so she will be getting involved in more fights and she doesn't have anything that will protect her head. Can you set her up with a helmet like mine?" I requested.

"I think I can manage that for my daughter-in-law," my mother replied with a smile.

Parvati walked around behind Cheza and moved Cheza's short hair, which she had kept in the same style since Parvati cut it a few years ago, to the side. Parvati touched the back of Cheza's neck and closed her eyes. Cheza grimaced as a lotus pattern appeared to be burned into her skin. I felt the need to take her pain away, but there was a decent chance that it would mess with whatever Parvati was doing.

"All done!" Parvati announced about a minute later as the lotus turned silver. "Try it out. Just think about the helmet coming out of your neck and enveloping your head."

Cheza touched the back of her neck and closed her eyes, but nothing happened.

"It's not working..." Cheza replied.

"Just keep trying. You'll get the hang of it eventually," Parvati responded. I wondered if my memories of how my helmet works would help, so I sent them, but to no avail.

"Airi? A little help for Cheza, please?" I thought, but no answer came.

However, a few moments later, a silver liquid flowed from the back of Cheza's neck and enveloped her head. Her helmet resembled mine, except that it had what appeared to be a five point crown on top.

"Whoa... this is going to take some getting used to," Cheza said as the eye holes turned red.

I found it interesting that her voice wasn't modulated like mine does when my helmet is engaged. Cheza touched the back of her neck and the helmet retracted, leaving a silver lotus on the back of her neck.

"So this settles it, right? Your fine with me becoming an operator now?" Cheza asked.

"I'd be lying if I said I was fine with it, but I do feel better about it..." I replied.

****

"So what do you want for dinner?" I ask Alice.

"Mac and cheese!" Alice exclaims.

"Alright, I'll go make some mac and cheese then," I reply and head to the kitchen.

After boiling some noodles, I pull Velveeta out of the fridge and mix it all together.

"Alice! Dinner's ready!" I call out.

Alice runs into the kitchen as I set her bowl of mac and cheese on the table.

"Where's White Rabbit?" I ask as I lift her up and place her in her pink booster seat.

"He's late... like always," Alice replies while I'm sliding the booster seat tray in and placing her dinner on it.

"Can you handle this yourself or do I need to feed you?" I ask her.

"I can do it!" Alice replies and digs into her bowl with her Disney Princess spoon.

Unwanted memories start to resurface before I ruthlessly beat them back down. It's been nearly four years and I've accepted that she's not coming back.

" _If you help me take that bitch down... I can bring the girl back,"_ Loki's voice echoes through my mind.

"Alice, I need to run to the bathroom. Will you be alright?" I ask while fighting through my nausea. Alice nods and I head to the bathroom.

I cup my hands under the running water in the sink and splash water in my face to calm myself down. The bathroom lights flicker as I bring my head up and look at my reflection in the mirror.

"Have you given any thought as to my proposal?" Loki inquires while wearing an all-black suit and maroon tie as he stands behind me in the mirror. I quickly spin around, only to find that no one is there; however, when I turn back towards the mirror, Loki stands behind me in my reflection.

"Did you think I'd be foolish enough to handle this in person? So tell me, what is your answer?" Loki asks.

"It's the same as it was four years ago: I'm going to kill you and send you back to the Void," I reply and Loki smiles in the mirror.

"I was hoping you'd say that! This will make things so much more interesting! In the coming weeks, you will experience levels of anguish that you've never known before," Loki informs me with a smile that drips malevolence.

"We'll see about that. I haven't just been sitting on my ass for the last three years," I tell him.

"I can see that! Your aura is almost as black as the Void itself... I'm excited to find out what will happen once it devours you!" Loki exclaims.

"The events aren't quite prepared yet, but I have scheduled something to tide you over. I'll give you a hint: it has something to do with Alice," Loki says.

"Loki, I swear to the Void, if you hurt her—" I start.

"Please, I would never dream of hurting my sweet great granddaughter! But then again, is she actually related to me at all?" Loki replies with a mischievous grin as I hear a window break in the kitchen.

I race out of the bathroom and down the hall as Alice starts screaming and is quickly cut off. After rounding the corner into the kitchen, I see a slender woman that is about five and a half feet tall, clad in a black leather suit and a black street bike helmet that encompasses her head. I notice that her gloved hand is holding a knife to Alice's throat while she covers Alice's mouth with her free hand.

"Let her go," I demand as my arm flushes black with the Void.

Continue reading in the final book of The Gods' Executioner Series: An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed, available now at all major eBook retailers.

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Thanks for reading!

