Chapter Twenty-Six

Farren

"T hat's a nice touch," Zev replies, "individual heavens but spaces for family to get together."

"There are also communal areas for everyone, parks, restaurants, and all sorts of places where people can meet other souls," Khaos adds.

"So, it's kind of like a realm in itself," I reply.

"Sort of, but there's no threat to life here because everyone is dead, no illness, no suffering," Hades explains.

"Except for in the punishment side, there's lots of suffering there," Khaos grins.

"It kind of worries me that you're so happy about that," Loki points out.

Khaos rolls his eyes, "Don't even pretend that you don't like torture as much as I do. I know full well that if I took you to that part, told you what some of the inhabitants had done, you would take great pleasure in torturing them."

Loki thinks about it for less than ten seconds and then replies, "Fair point. I would."

"Why do you have Helliers and Underworlders in this half?" I ask curiously. My gaze is on my creatures. Poca looks extremely at home here and bigger than usual, so I know that he's letting more of his power out than he usually does. Meri is sitting up on his back, looking at everything curiously instead of fast asleep, and Oryn is flying as close to Poca's side as he possibly can without landing on him and looking a lot more nervous than the other two. This is a situation that I don't think any of us thought we would find ourselves in.

"We don't have many, but every now and then, we get a soul or two who don't like how things are run, who want to go back to their lives, and who struggle to adjust." Hades replies.

"So, we need people here to help in those situations and keep it under control until we can get in extra help if we need them," Khaos adds.

"I have to admit that I prefer this side," I say.

Hades looks sad as he replies, "You have only seen the other side tainted by the princes. You should've seen it before; there were festivals and street parties, and it was just an amazing place to be somewhere that I was really proud to be called the god of."

"I hope that we can get it back that way again," I reply.

"I think it's going to take a lot of healing before it's back to being as carefree as that sounds," Rival says.

Hades frowns as he looks around at his realm, with an air of sadness cloaking him. "Unfortunately, I think you're right. This side may look better than the other side, but the streets used to at least have a few souls out and about, talking to each other or on their way to places. There's no one, and we've been walking for a while now."

"Not to mention we should've been stopped by Hellier's a long time ago," Khaos adds.

As if his words have summoned them, three Helliers appear in front of us.

"Hades?"

"Commander Khaos?"

"Why are there only three of you?" Khaos demands and then looks at one of them, "What are you doing on this side?"

The Hellier he spoke to swallows thickly and replies, "Things have gotten a bit complicated since you both disappeared. We're spread pretty thinly; the Princes have been sowing discord in the Punishment half, and we needed as many Helliers as possible over there. We've had to shut down the private heavens during certain times so that the Helliers here can go over. We're all in positions that we shouldn't be."

It shows an amazing amount of respect that the Hellier simply replies and doesn't ask any questions despite the fact that Khaos has been gone for so long.

"I'm so sorry that you've all been through this," Hades says, truly apologetic even though it's not his fault. "I'm going to need you to make an announcement. Order should start to restore with my power here. The princes are dead, but they are still causing issues, one of which I have to sort out to ensure that the Underworld is truly safe, and as such, I have to leave. They kept me a prisoner and drained my power for many years. The other side does not need to know of any of this until I am back and the Underworld is truly safe again."

They all nod.

"Sire, I am so glad that you are back, even if it's only temporary. We have all felt your magic and what it's done for the Underworld already; some of us were beginning to wonder if you were back," the tall woman says, with nothing but respect and trust in her tone.

"I'm sorry to ask; I know that you are helping the realm already, and I can only imagine what those dicks put you through," the tallest one starts and then adds, "but I was wondering if there is anything that you can do to help the unrest in the punishment side. Some of them are under the impression that they can leave, and the princes are going to do that for them."

Hades frowns in contemplation for a moment as he tries to come up with a solution.

"What about Purgatory?" Khaos asks.

The three Hellier's eyes go wide, and it clearly means something to them that the rest of us don't understand. I don't even know much about Purgatory. I didn't even think that it was real, but then again, I was unsure that the gods themselves were real until recently, and now I've kissed one.

Holy shit balls, I kissed a god, I kissed freaking Hades, and I want to do it again; I want to more than do it again.

I have gotten way off track.

Back to Purgatory, all I really know about it is that it's sort of like a waiting ground; it's neither in the soul side nor in the punishment side; it's just midway. But as we've learned so far, there was a lot of information that was not given to the Fae realm, so this is most like one of those things that we don't know about.

"That could work," Hades replies, "it's secure enough; it's a wasteland; no one can get in or out of it, not even the other gods."

"The other gods?" one of them questions, but Hades just ignores him; that is not something that he needs to know.

"We weren't taught anything about Purgatory," Mayhem interrupts, "not really, but if there is some kind of prince backed uprising trying to happen in the punishment side, is Purgatory going to be enough to hold them? To stop them from trying to gain even more headway into their plan? Also, how have the princes been communicating with them?"

Hades eyebrows rise, "All very good points. I can answer the ones about Purgatory. I can seal them in a part that would have them eternally burning; on a continuous loop, they won't be able to think of anything but pain."

"Damn," I mutter, and Hades eyes dart to me, a worried look in his eyes until he sees the heat in mine, and then they become questioning; I shrug, "What, I think it's hot when you get all ordery and god-like."

The Helliers gape at me as Hades bursts out into shocked laughter.

"Sire, you found your Queen?" the one who has been quiet all this time asks, with a giant grin on his face.

Hades clears his throat and looks at me out of the side of his eye, his lips ticking up into a smile, "It's complicated. Back to the matter at hand, how did the princes manage to get followers in here? We were led to believe that they'd pretty much ignored this side."

The woman nods, "Yes, they did, for the most part. We're not entirely sure where the breach came from, but our best guess is that it's from a prisoner. Every now and then, they take a prisoner out. It's only happened twice, once just after you were presumed dead, and once more recently, it was after the first time that things started to go wrong, and they got the idea that they could escape. The second one was more recently and he came back and added fuel to the fire, he kept talking about how the princes have already made Wraith's out of some of the souls and set them free."

"What?" Khaos asks, the growl prominent in his tone.

"Are there prisoners missing?" Hades demands, his power starting to whip around him.

The Helliers share a look that gives me a bad feeling.

"We don't know, sir. With all of the unrest, having to shut down the heavens on this side and dealing with the upset from that, none of us are sure if any are missing."

"Fuck," Storm hisses and then glances at Hades, "what can we do? How can we help?"

Hades' severe look turns into a slight smile before falling again, "There's nothing that you can do, but I appreciate the offer. Give me a moment, and I'll figure out if anyone is missing." He closes his eyes and then opens them again, "Erm, it's been a long time since I last did this, and I don't think it's going to go as smoothly as it usually does. I suggest that you all sit down."

We all sit without question, even the Helliers but then I guess if a god tells you to do something you fucking do it no question asked.

Once Hades is sure that we're on the floor, even my creatures doing as they've been asked, he closes his eyes again. The magic begins to build, a wind coming from nowhere and whipping around him, Hades' wings start to unfold but only enough to steady him. It very quickly becomes incredibly intense, the magic growing, and I can feel its eagerness to comply. If it's anything like my magic, then it's pissed as fuck at being separated from Hades, and after all this time, it could be explosive.

"Fuck," Khaos mutters, "he's either hit a spell that he's trying to break through, or his magic is mad."

"I'm willing to bet it's the second one," Kill replies.

"What do we do?" a Hellier asks.

"Stay down and hope for the best?" Loki suggests, in all honesty, he looks far too calm in this situation, but then I don't think I've seen him freak out in any situation.

I think he's just too laid back for that.

Before anyone can answer what they think we should do, and by anyone, I mean Khaos because, let's face it, none of the rest of us have any idea; shit hits the fan.

Magic suddenly shoots out from Hades, the ball heading straight for where we're all sitting on the floor. Without thinking, I jump up directly in the path of the powerful god magic, I've caught magic before, sure, but this is fucking god magic and is so much more powerful than any other magic that I've come across.

I'm strangely calm as the magic hurtles toward me; I can hear the guys yelling for me to move in the background. I ignore it all and focus on my own magic. I bring it all forward, finding more magic than I should but not bothering to question it. Just before the magic hits Hades' eyes open, they lock on me and instantly fill with panic, but it's too late for him to do anything but watch in horror.

I wait for the magic to explode into me, but it doesn't; just before it hits, it slows and instead wraps around me. It zips and zigs around my arms and legs, tickling my chin and making me giggle; shockingly enough, my giggle makes it pause, and it does it again, seeing if it can make me laugh again. When it does, I feel it hum happily and then watch in shock as it sinks into my skin; my magic welcomes it as an amazing amount of power rushes through me. I feel something within my magic snap open, something that I wasn't even aware was closed.

As quickly as it happened it settles, although I feel stronger and different, and I can still sense Hades' magic happily mixed with mine.

"What the hell was that, Farren? It could've killed you!" Killian shouts as soon as he knows I'm safe.

"I knew it wouldn't," I reply.

"Did you?" Mayhem asks, his eyebrow raised.

I glance away, "I had a pretty good inkling that it wouldn't."

All of my guys groan, even Khaos, but Loki is the one to say, "Farren, Love, please don't risk your life on an inkling. We only just got you back."

The raw emotion on his face stops my snarky reply in its tracks, and instead, I say, "I'm sorry. I won't do it again." I then turn to look at Hades, "What the fuck just happened? Why can I feel your magic with mine?"

Khaos's eyes go wide, "She absorbed your magic?"

Hades swallows thickly, his eyes never leaving mine, "I thought it was impossible, but I was obviously wrong."

"You thought what was impossible?" Rival asks.

"Oh shit," Zev suddenly interrupts, and I glance at him just in time to see his eyes turn back to normal. "Oh, that is not a conversation that we should have now."

Hades nods, "No, it's not."

He glances at the three Hellier's who are still on the floor but watching this exchange with interest. Walking over to each of them, he touches them on the head, and they all pass out, at least I hope they've passed out.

"Why did you do that?" Storm asks, more curious than concerned.

"Because what they just witnessed Farren do is incredibly rare and information that, if in the wrong hands, is incredibly dangerous. I have taken the memory from them and knocked them out, they will come around in a moment, and just think that my power went a little bit awry and knocked them out. I'm going to need all of you to pretend that you got knocked out, too." Hades explains.

"You'll explain what happened to me when you can?" I ask Hades.

He moves forward and grips my hands, "It is not a bad thing. You are not in danger, and I promise that I will tell you as soon as it's safe to do so; there are ears everywhere here."

"If it helps, I will keep looking for safe moments for you to tell her. There isn't one currently," Zev adds with a frown.

"Okay, I trust you," I reply, making a beautiful smile appear on his face. He kisses my forehead gently.

"I don't think you'll ever stop surprising me," Khaos says as I step back, "you are so much more than you appear."

Before I can reply, although I'm not really sure how I would reply to that, the Helliers start to groan, and like some sort of comedic skit, everyone apart from Hades falls to the floor and then starts groaning and holding their head as they slowly sit up along with the Helliers.

"What happened?" the woman asks.

"I have no idea, but it sure as hell packed a punch," Storm replies, playing along flawlessly, "is everyone okay."

When everyone answers that they are, although we already know that, we all slowly stand up and look at Hades.

"I'm sorry, my magic has been apart from me for too long, and it was a bit over-eager to do as I asked. Fortunately, you were all sitting on the floor so you didn't have far to fall," Hades explains.

Khaos rolls his eyes as we all get up, "Yeah, because that makes a difference."

"Did it work?" Mayhem asks, which is a good job because I'm pretty sure they were about to devolve into a fake argument about something that didn't actually happen.

Hades smiles and nods, "Yes, I put all of the ones that were causing the unrest into a special slice of Purgatory. They're already heavily regretting being easily influenced, I also have a list of the missing souls. If you leave it with me, we will locate them and send them back Wraiths when they die; get sent back here."

"Thank you, Sire, that's a massive relief," the taller one replies, the relief evident in the droop of his shoulders.

"You can now reopen the heavens as normal," Hades replies, "send everyone back to their usual posts. I imagine that there are some very confused Helliers on the punishment side right now, so I'd suggest that you get over there as quickly as possible and tell them what's going on, along with the rest of the information about what is going on."

"Yes, Sire," they reply together.

"I will give the realm as much of my magic as I can before I leave, and I promise that I will be back soon. I won't be gone for too long," Hades adds.

All of the Helliers nod that they understand, and then they disappear.

Once I'm sure that they've gone, I say, "This is all starting to get a bit messy, isn't it?"

"I think that might be the understatement of the century," Reaper replies.

"It's certainly up there," Hades agrees, and I smile.

Loki shrugs, "In all honesty, I couldn't care less how messy it is or how messy it gets. I'm just glad that we're all together."

All the guys hum in agreement and look at me with soft expressions. To have all of these incredibly strong men look at me like that, well, it's pretty fucking amazing, and for the first time in my life, I feel my cheeks heat with the telltale signs of a blush.

If any of them point it out, I will kill them; their soft looks quickly turn into amusement as my smile turns into a scowl of warning.