Athena's POV

Just as Chris' hulking body makes it through the door to the curse zone, the opening fills with void as the outside frame decolours. Piece by piece it crumbles into nothing more than a pile of ink that gradually begins to sink into the ground of the underworld. He drops us, standing just inches from the puddle as Adam climbs off of him aggressively. Quickly wrapping my hair around his raised arm that readies to punch Chris' chest.

"He...spoke" His silent voice whispers out while struggling against me, continuing to try and force his way into hitting Chris. "That was...him." He continues to whisper with tears streaming down his face.

"Adam...please" I cry for him...alongside him. Whipping my hair back to where he's forced to fall into my arms. His thrashing only gets worse as he spots the puddle behind Chris beginning to sink more and more.

"H-e...left him" He chokes as he attempts to speak, ignoring the limited air within his lungs and the wounds across his body. "HE LEFT HIM!" He screams, elbowing me in the jaw and breaking lose to make his way towards Chris.

Raising an arm with a swift motion but stopping at a sudden thud in front of him. Chris now eye level with him as he falls to his knees, his black sclera doing nothing more than highlighting the green veins that trace his eyes. Bulging his through his face as he stares back at Adam, not even able to shed anymore tears as he simply accepts his own actions.

Ignoring the space between the two and knocking Adam down with a headbutt as he falls onto his hands, "I didn't...he told me...he made me...it wasn't him." He murmurs under his breath as if denying the truth to himself.

I grab Adam again, tightening my grip harder than last time. "He's...lying." Adam tries arguing, thrashing through my hold but I continue tightening it. "ATHENA!" He screams, attempting to elbow me but hitting nothing more than the ground. "HE KILLED MY MATE!". I begin to tear up for my brother, holding him down for more than my own sake. More and more he attempts to struggle until one small movement catches his attention.

Jackson reaches down, picking up what's left of the ink and letting it back onto the ground. "She knew. She knew it from the beginning...didn't she?" He speaks over Chris' mumbling.

"Who knew...what?" I ask.

He seemingly begins to quote, "This isn't a love story...this isn't a story told through the hero crafted through pain and sorrow." He tenses his hand into a fist until eventually letting it go, "No, this is a tragedy. One of loss...the loss of many. And she knew that...from the very beginning."

"Who Jackson!?" I demand.

"A woman who isn't even a memory, it matters not." His oddly calm state throwing me for a loop.

"Jackson please..." I beg while continuing to restrain Adam with my own weakness beginning to overtake me.

He looks around the area for a second before looking back at me with an indescribable emotion, "I...cannot find Irene." His words carrying a weight I can't willingly bare at the moment.

A deep rumbling forcing us to focus onto the source, turning out bodies to face Cerberus' approach alongside Gabriela and Cliodhna.

The three pause beside each other as Cliodhna and Cerberus briefly interact.

His deep grumble sounds out, "Cliodhna?" he asks as if a question.

Her luminous green hair brightens in response, "Cerberus" She confirms before looking back at us.

Gabriela runs up to us, quickly sliding into a knee across the rough ground as she helps sit me up with Adam still in my arms. Her crackled throat preventing her from speaking but nonetheless She pauses as if previously speaking, looking around and seemingly counting before looking back at Adam who has rolled out of my weakened grasp.

"Ad-" I try to reach for him again but my legs refuse to stand, allowing him to get further away than last time despite his slips and stumbles.

"Jackson...plea-se" He lands his hand along Jackson's shoulder, clearly pressing near enough his entire weight on him but nonetheless Jackson holds it up. "Take it away...you can do that...can't you?"

We all stare at him, knowing the extent of what he's asking, but unprepared for the response Jackson was about to give. "Even after you just saw the extent of human greed, you do nothing else but ask for more?" His voice sounding almost disappointed as he continues to lecture Adam, "We've all lost, and we have to live with that. You've lost. You don't get to just 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 the cost of what it took for us to survive."

Jackson's words causes Adam's tensed body to ease for a fraction of a second, almost instantaneously forcing him to shut down as he falls back to the ground beside Chris' hunched form. But nonetheless he continues to speak, unbeknownst to Adam's state, "What you're asking is for an ideal, something I cannot offer you...something I need to find myself." He mumbles with regret, looking onward as he begins walking away in no particular direction.

"Jackson wait!" I extend my arm out to him, knowing it's pointless effort due to my current condition but nonetheless, I try.

Gabriela's arms wrap around me as she keeps me in place, giving me the chance to look between my unconscious brother, my broken down husband and the last remnant of conscious humanity, walking away from us all.

Cliodhna approaches us with her typical swaying and places a hand across my head, "You all need time to heal, let him come back on his own with peace of mind." She advises.

I try to speak, "Bu-" but she interrupts me.

She leans closer to my ear, cracking her jaw briefly before releasing a few mind numbing words, "Lay with solace" she whispers. The weight of my eye lids becoming unbearable as I concede, allowing myself to rest despite this nagging urgency in the back of my head...

-

Cliodhna's POV

I lower their bodies, gently pressing on Christopher's back as he slides to the floor in his relaxed state. Sitting beside his body, I begin twisting a piece or two of his hairs in memory of someone with important significance. "Is he reminding you of that man?" Cerberus asks.

I begin to reminisce with a soft grin across my face, "The innocent human who stumbled upon us for the very first time? Why yes. Yes he does." I admit before placing him down against the floor beside the other two.

Upon releasing myself of his weight, I lend an ear to Cerberus' soft growls, catching a glance of the thing that's been lingering with us for quite sometime. A home, one that Morgan Le Fay herself was unable to see...one that Theta wouldn't dare interact with. Sitting peacefully mere steps from the previous door to the motionless curse zone of Chronos.

Grasping hands with Gabriela, we walk to the door, grabbing the handle and snapping the locks upon it. Guiding her in first before looking back at Cerberus' worried look, "It's for the best...you know it is." I comment before walking in fully but still allowing his heads to peek inward.

A table with what one would call, simple lighting, beside it and waiting for us. Exactly 6 chairs. We sit as Gabriela begins to point around the room as if trying to tell me something..."Have you been here before?" I ask.

Her enthusiastic nods giving me confirmation as my eyes begin to wander, knowing how this typically plays out. "The daughter returns...with the mother...and the father?" A man's voice sounds from above, laughing with a humble tone before routinely taking the chair at the head of the table and briefly peering back at Cerberus. "Not joining?" He waves his hand over the three chairs but Cerberus' stays unamused by the gesture.

He quiets himself before placing both hands on the table, staring onward to Gabriela. "So the will of nature wasn't enough either?" He asks.

"It was not." I confirm.

"And now you're asking for something...unnatural?" His eyes squint with focus.

"Akul, I know not the rules of your home...but you are capable of helping her, aren't you?" I extend my hand for her to hold in hope of his response.

He pauses for a moment, allowing us to watch as his guise of human skin fluxes a little bit as if a loose sheet comes undone. "The flower?" He points towards the centre of the table, showing off a bright glistening gold covered flower. Dripping a unnatural sparks of light as it tilts to the side.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

I don't comment, instead begin to reach for it in misunderstanding as my eyes look back at him for a moment. Glancing at his hand as he plucks the petals one by one from it. "Wait! Please!" I beg.

He stops plucking, looking between me and Gabriela before beginning to speak. "The world's built off of equivalent exchange, even my own. To receive, you must give." He extends his hand out to the table.

I stand up with aggravation, "Like what!?" Slamming my hands on the table at his ridiculous demand. He looks back at Gabriela as if hinting at something, "Her!?".

"You seriously think I'm going to give you her!?" I lunge over the table, just barely stopping at his neck as the man nonchalantly glances down at the blade within my hands.

A small sound emanates from the table as he begins to smile, "I accept this offer" He says without context, backing up from me as he kicks the chair from behind himself. Standing up and gesturing with his eyes for me to look ahead.

"W-why?" I ask to Gabriela, her hand wrapped in the palm of the man.

He walks beside her in the space of where the table was, it's presence gone as if never even there in the first place. He places the petals of the flower against her throat, lining it up and down in a suggestive manner while keeping eye contact with me.

"He wants to play a game...so let's see what this game is." She speaks to me after this prolonged silence. Earning the twisted smile of the man.

The golden glitter from his hand loses its light as he wraps his arm over Gabriela's shoulder, "The flower was nothing less than common, but that most certainly was a worthwhile trade, I admire this one..."

"And when do you plan to return her!?" I demand as Cerberus' growls begin to shake the structure.

He crooks his neck up at a broken clock as it ticks in the same position, "Eventually?" He asks as if questioning himself. Continuing to stare onto the broken hands as they begin to turn at a regular pace, prompting him to stare back at me with a clap of his hands, pulling Gabriela closer to his chest as I'm gently tugged to the outside of the house.

My jaw begins to unintentionally break as a response to my emotions, "GABRIELA YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO THAT MAN IS!" My breath begins to whistle with the natural build up to a screech.

He waves as a gesture of goodbye, "On the contrary, I have as much time as I need to explain that all."

"We'll see each other again!" Gabriela shouts.

My nails stick into the doorframe as I continue to try and force my way through, "I DON'T WANT TO WAIT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" I shout back.

And just as I thought I managed to get through, he releases her from his arms, prompting her to run towards me with the confidence that she'd hug for one last time. "You know where to find me" His eerie whisper fills my head, forcing the door shut as the house begins to crumple like nothing more than a sheet of paper.

I attempt to get closer without concern for my own safety but Cerberus steps in front of me, blocking my path. "They're already gone. You've done what you can" he assures me, sitting in front of me as I rest my body against him.

Slowly sliding down and sitting beside the others. I begin to think to myself as a means to pass the time. 'The loss, the misery, a fall from grace and what left do I have remaining besides this space within me...'

-

Jackson's POV

I wander around the Underworld, stumbling upon the entrance behind the pack house as if my body's trying to tell me something. Making my way forward, I notice the figure of a sleeping orange wolf. Ryan's petrified state seemingly undone like he as never frozen to begin with, kneeling down, I do think to wake him...but for what usefulness.

Continuing on, I exit through the portal, lining my eyes up to the moon's gaze as I still search for some sort of sign that Irene is truly gone. "Is that it? You're just gone like the rest of them?" I whimper in no particular direction. Feeling an ache within my chest that lashes at my heart. This is what he feels...doesn't he. To lose a mate, is to lose part of your soul. Without Irene...I'm just me. Those tears she shed in those last moments weren't for Percy, were they. She knew this would happen. The result that was warned to us from the start, and yet we ignored it.

I attempt to walk forward, feeling the slightest pressure pull me back by the wrist however. Something barely noticeable or possibly even a placebo that's drawing me back to facing the Underworld. Is she trying to tell me something...or do I just want there to be something? I can't bring myself to decide, I wasn't ever meant to bring myself to decide. But for this, "I will stay. I can think for myself" I let out a breathy laugh as if in denial of my own choice, "I can choose this time." I continue speaking as if someone would answer and confirm my hollow ideal.

-

2 Weeks Later

Adam's POV

With the land laid to waste and damaged, Anubis gave us the answer we needed. But with it, came a challenge we didn't think we'd need to face. Closing the Underworld.

"So you're leaving then?" Athena asks me, her eyes weighing heavy on my shoulders as I confirm my answer.

"There's places I've been wanting to see, something logged within the books we kept in our old pack house that me and Percy were going to visit. As long as it's not here...I think it would do my conscious some good." I look towards Ryan as he places his bag around his shoulder, deciding for himself that he'd join me.

"This could be the last time we see each other, you know that right? This isn-" I interrupt her with a hug as her tensed body immediately softens into my grasp.

"I know" I admit, hiding my face behind her head.

She tugs away to extend her hand out to me, "Chris received this from Cliodhna and told me to give you it". Her hand opens to show an engraved luminescent amulet of sorts, showing the engravings of M and Z for some reason. Not even waiting for me to perceive anymore of it as she places it around my neck, connecting it from behind.

Athena explains, "She said it glows the closer you are, even in the day. Allowing no more than one word at a time between the two." She shows it off by lifting it in front of her, showing off a green glow from hers and a blue from my own. 'Adam', it repeats after her without even needing a vocal sound.

"Thank you" I leave it to drop against my chest, looking up and seeing Chris waving from the balcony of the palace. I wave back with respect and condolences, 'I'm sorry' I try to communicate with him, not knowing the strength of my telepathy within the Underworld but nonetheless it looks like he got it. Holding his shit eating grin as he returns back inside to complete whatever he was doing.

I hold my bags against my back, stepping out with Ryan by my side as Athena surprises him with a hug. "Keep each other safe, okay?" She asks.

"Will do" Ryan adds to my affirmative nod as Athena begins to lift her hand up to the open frame.

"Don't you need Chris-oh" I interrupt myself, underestimating my sister as the frame begins to crack like ice.

She smiles to me with sincerity, murmuring under her breath, "I hope peace for you, my brother".

Crumbling the portal's vine exterior into nothing more than pieces of stone and...ink. I lean down out of curiosity, running my hand through it as my bag accidentally drops a jar in front of me. Rolling a bit too far into Ryan's line of sight.

"Adam...from what you told me, isn't that-" He tries to question.

"I need to learn Ryan. There's something we aren't understanding. He's still out there. I can get to him. I just need you to trust me. We'll get him back." I place the jar back into my bag despite his ongoing look, ignoring his sympathetic gaze and beginning our trek through the calamity struck home as we pass the graveyard of our pack members. Some sites empty from the lack of a body remaining or some full of maggots and flies with the rotting corpse.

"Red" Ryan calls out without context.

Prompting me to ask, "What?"

"Red...I was talking about the blood." His eyes move from behind me as he points towards the ground we're about to stand on, further approaching the village, just as decimated as our own.

"Whether someone's alive here or not is none of our concern. They're not Percy." I shrug off the intoxicating scent of blood and charcoal as we pass through, heading deeper through and into the forest where I can begin my search...

-

Chris' POV

I walk through the halls and to the outside of the palace, looking around the area that was once previously destroyed. Repaired by the spirits to be good as new, just like my own. I trace the fur along my body that got plucked, burnt, clipped and torn. Filled back to new. Just over the hill I notice Athena walking back to me, holding out her arm in a small wave as she approaches closer.

"You okay?" I ask her, extending my hand out to take it into hers.

She doesn't answer me, instead leaning her back against my chest as she wraps my own arm around her like some sort of blanket or shield. "He thought I didn't notice." She sighs.

I look onto where the door was, already knowing the lack of ink that remains. "Did he ask about Jackson?" I wonder.

"Not at all." She comments. "Where even is he?"

"Still waiting behind the palace, sitting by the water." I explain before beginning to walk there, taking her hand and guiding as we walk through the front entrance and pass by Persephone's room. The running water that purifies the plants in this area, glistening as we walk alongside it as if filled with its own moonlight.

We open up the last gate, watching him splash the water between intervals as if trying to imagine something. "She's gone, I know she is. There's no need to watch over me with concern." He states, already knowing we're watching him.

"How can you be so sure?" Athena asks.

"The shelf within the library that builds itself from the memories of those who were once here, or rather the ones who are no longer themselves...its collected the new and the old" He explains before standing up to properly face us.

"So what do you plan on doing here? We're welcome to have you stay" She opens up her arms for him which he graciously accepts for a moment before backing away. Giving me time to properly view him as I notice strands of white within his naturally black hair...as if he's taking on the qualities of someone else.

"The Shade, Adam. He said the Underworld is vast, it may be an effect of Morgan Le fay or possibly my own poor memory, but I've never gone further than these grounds. I want to explore it." He asks.

Athena looks up at me as if asking for permission for him to do so for some reason, "Hey I have no qualms with it, go ahead!" I laugh while leaning down to point him in the direction of a place beyond the palace. Something that even we may have to join him on.

"So long as you're not too far, we can always connect to you through the Underworld okay Jackson?" Athena assures him, "I'll catch up to you after I've went through the memories, possibly even learning more about you than you can remember!" She jokes.

He begins walking, only turning back to answer us, "If you do, be sure to remind me!" He waves before heading into an encompassing darkness, seemingly acting like a barrier between the regions of the world.

"Well th-Athena?" I look around, unable to catch a sight of her as I turn my head frantically for her. Running back around to the front I catch a glimpse of Cliodhna and Cerberus, realising she made the decision to stay here with him, something that I'd need to ask about personally when the time comes.

"Athena!?" I continue to call out while trying to find her. "ATH-"

"Shhh" She hushes me as I barge through a door, her hair wrapped all around the library as she resumes her space as the Queen of the Library.

"Are you that curious?" I ask.

"Are you telling me you're not curious?" She asks back, wrapping her hair around me as she pulls me to her makeshift throne, opening up a book with an icy blue glow.

"Why that one in particular?" I question.

"This book is the same one I held back within the Rainmakers pack, one that Percy found when we first met. For it to be placed on this shelf, nonetheless given this new cover? Something presented as new and yet telling a story of old, does that not entice you enough to learn about our full past?" She asks with a sparkle in her eyes as she keenly opens it to the first page, knowing nothing I say is going to stop her, I simply sit back and read along...with her.