Chapter Twenty-Seven

Farren

"S he's cute when she's mad," Khaos mutters out of the corner of his mouth.

All of the guys burst out laughing, and although I try to keep my scowl in place, it doesn't last, and I end up laughing along with them.

The buzz of magic going throughout the whole realm stops our laughter.

"Should we be concerned about that?" Zev asks.

Hades shakes his head, "No, it's just the heavens unlocking. They should have never been locked in the first place. Although I understand that it was to keep everyone safe, and they didn't really have much choice."

"They've done a really good job in our absence," Khaos says as we start to walk forward again.

"Yeah, they have," Hades replies thoughtfully, "I'll have to think of a way to thank them properly, especially since I'm about to take off again."

"I think it's a testament to how well you ran the place," Kill says to Hades and then looks at Khaos, "and how well you trained your Helliers. I mean, they didn't even question anything; they just accepted that you were back and accepted that you were leaving again."

"They spoke to you with the utmost respect, too," Storm adds.

Hades shrugs, "You must remember that I've been doing this for longer than I care to admit, and Khaos has been here almost as long. In fact, none of those Helliers were new, and we still consider a Hellier new if they're a couple of hundred years into the job."

"Wow, okay." Storm replies, "Yeah, it makes sense why they just go with the flow."

Hades nods, "Exactly, I've gone before, not for this long and not without checking in or letting them know I was coming back. I've never just disappeared on them before, but even a god needs a break every now and then so I did take time off occasionally."

"I guess that makes sense; I mean, I imagine that it could get pretty monotonous doing the same thing every day for thousands of years," Zev replies.

"You're really old," I mutter, and then smirk when he shoots me a glare.

"I am, and I've seen all sorts of incredible and shocking things in my time and yet, you still surprise me daily," he replies, smiling.

"I don't think that's going to stop any time soon," Loki adds before I can say anything.

"Nah, no chance," Mayhem agrees, "Farren isn't capable of not surprising us."

"Hey, it's not like I'm doing it on purpose," I reply, somewhat defensively.

"No, you're not, and that's why we know that you're not going to stop surprising us any time soon." Rival replies, pulling me under his arm and kissing the top of my head.

I haven't been back with them for very long at all, but I've already noticed that they are a lot more affectionate with me; they're all finding ways to touch me, and I love it. I like the reassurance that they're here and that they're real. It's helping to settle and smooth some of my raw edges.

"It's a good thing, Farren," Reaper adds.

"Yeah, we love it," Loki agrees.

"It certainly ensures that nothing ever becomes boring," Khaos adds with a smirk.

I don't really know what to say to that, so I just smile and look around. Noticing that, whereas before, the streets seemed to be abandoned, now, people are talking outside the front of their houses, mowing their lawns, or picking up shells on their beach. It's an incredibly eclectic view, and I don't think that I would ever get bored of looking at the different houses.

"They don't look very happy," Storm observes, obviously watching the souls like I am.

"Would you be?" Zev asks and then clarifies as he adds, "They're in heaven, and yet they've been separated and isolated from their families and the friends that they've made here; I'd be pretty pissed myself."

"Yeah, actually, now that you've mentioned it, I think I'd probably feel the same," Storm replies.

"Hopefully, they will be happier when they realise that it won't be happening again and that it's back to business as usual," Khaos replies.

"Has it been working properly since you've been gone?" Loki asks and then rolls his eyes, "That was not very clear; what I mean is, have all of the dead got here like they were supposed to?"

Hades looks contemplative, "I'm not too sure, and it's something that I'm going to need to talk to someone about before we leave."

He doesn't say anything else as I feel his magic spike, and suddenly, one of the Helliers that was here before is standing in front of us again.

"Sire?" he asks, not looking as shocked as he should be. I'm guessing that he is used to being summoned, or it's at least a normal occurrence.

"I'm sorry; I know that this isn't your usual area of expertise, but I don't really have time to deal with the reaction of me being here from someone else." Hades starts to explain.

The Hellier nods, "Yes, I understand that. I will try and help as much as I can."

"In my absence, have the souls been crossing over as they should?" he asks.

The Hellier frowns and shakes his head, "They have from most of the realms, although it's been taking them longer to cross over. The only realm that we've had an issue with is the Dragon realm; we're not getting as many souls through as we should have. Maybe only one or two a day, and with a realm that size, there should be many more than that."

"Only the Dragon realm?" Mayhem asks; when the Hellier nods, he adds sarcastically, "Well, isn't that a coincidence?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Hades agrees.

"Are you sure?" Khaos asks.

"As far as we're aware, it's only the Dragon realm. We know that they're still dying in the right numbers, but for some reason, they're not making it here," he replies.

"Do you have any idea where they could be ending up?" Killian asks the Hellier.

He shakes his head, but his reply is hesitant, "No, we don't know. But as I've mentioned before, with the Underworld in the turmoil that it's been in the last few decades, no one has had the chance to investigate."

"But you have a theory, right?" I ask, following a hunch.

Again, the Hellier hesitates, but with us all looking at him, he eventually nods, "Yes, several people have mentioned the possibility that they're in the in-between."

"I've never heard of it," Mayhem says with a frown, and I know that he's itching to get more information about it.

Khaos rolls his eyes, "That's because it's a legend; it's not actually a real place. It's been spoken about in whispers for as long as I can remember, but no one has any proof that it exists or has ever existed."

The Hellier nods, looking a little bit embarrassed as he replies, "That's why I was hesitant to mention it."

"Now that everything should start to calm down in the punishment half, put a team together and get them to investigate the dragon disappearances. The last thing we need is dragon spirits causing mischief. They're not the easiest to wrangle." Khaos replies. "It shouldn't be too long until I'm back, and I want an update on the situation."

"Yes, commander," the Hellier replies and then disappears.

Once I'm sure that he's gone and we start walking again, I ask, "It's a pretty big coincidence that the only missing souls are from the Dragon Realm."

"It's more than a coincidence. I think Monty was right, and we're going to be going to the Dragon realm," Reaper replies. Now that the idea isn't being sprung on him, he seems to be handling it a bit better, and it makes me wonder if Monty knew that he was going to struggle with it, so I gave him a warning.

For all his eccentricities, Monty is a good supe, and it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest for him to risk himself in order to help Reaper. Very few people see that side of him though, and I guess that's because he doesn't show it to many people.

"We can't just leave the Underworld," Loki says, "it's in a mess; it needs Khaos and Hades, especially the Soul side."

"Monty said that we needed to get out," Zev reminds him, knowledge in his eyes.

"I don't want to leave either," Hades replies, "but we've done as much as we can to help them now. I am putting as much of my magic as I possibly can into the realm while I'm here; that will make a massive difference. We need to go to the Dragon realm, not only because the key fragment is there but also to see what's happening with the dead dragons and where they're going."

"He's right," Storm says, "I don't like it any more than you do, but we need to listen to Monty."

"We will be coming back," Zev says with an amount of surety in his voice which is reassuring.

I have to admit that, like the others, I don't want to leave, I want to stay and help this realm after what those fuckers have done to it, but I also know that in order to keep the realm safe from that god fucker, then we need the last key fragment.

"Good," Hades replies to Zev.

I can only imagine how difficult it is for him to leave his realm after being forced to be absent for so long.

"In order to get into the dragon realm, we're going to have to do quite a lot of preparation; I can't just create a portal to get us there. We would be killed immediately, and Farren won't even be able to use the Void." Grey explains.

"The Void is being a bit hinky since I got my magic back anyway. I haven't been able to travel through it," I explain.

Hades' eyebrows raise, "Oh, well, that's interesting. Back to my point, though, we need to head back to the Shadowlands. I've got several books that can help, and we'll also need some things from Monty's shop. There are customs and things that you all need to know about they're a tricky species to get along with."

"Well, this sounds not at all complicated," Loki says sarcastically, making me grin.

"Let's just get out of here, and then we can focus on the next steps," Reaper suggests.

"I agree. I don't know about you, but I desperately need a proper meal and an actual shower, at least before we head off on our next mission." I reply.

"Here, here." Khaos agrees wholeheartedly.

"Xerxes might have some information for us as well," Mayhem suddenly suggests, clearly still focused on the information about the Dragon Realm.

"Shit, where is X?" I ask, knowing that I didn't pick him up and feeling really bad about it.

"I picked him up, but he said he was being summoned back to the house, and he disappeared," Zev says. "I would've mentioned it before, but with Monty showing up and then coming here, I completely forgot."

"No worries," I smile, "I was just panicking that I'd left him behind."

"Hopefully, he's already getting a head start on the research that we need to do," Mayhem muses.

Rival chuckles, "Don't ever change, brother."

Mayhem just looks at his twin with a confused frown before shrugging, and I can't help but chuckle. He's so cute when he's in information gathering mode.

"How much longer until we get to the portal?" Reaper asks, "Now that Farren mentioned it, I desperately want to sleep in an actual bed."

"Ohh, now you're talking," Loki smirks; when I snort, he winks at me.

Hades shakes his head, looking amused as he says, "We don't have to go too much further; just around this corner is one of the communal parks, it's one of the trees by the river."

Almost as one, we all increase our pace, wanting to get there as quickly as we can before we get stopped by something. Fortunately, Hades was right, and it's only a few moments before we are walking through the park and heading toward the river.

"There are a lot more people here than I thought there would be, and they all look so normal," Kill says.

"You wouldn't realise that they're souls unless you knew where we were," Zev says and then adds with a smile, "Never mind, you'd never see humans peacefully coexisting with dragons, sprites and all the different creatures here if they weren't dead."

"Unfortunately you're right, this is the only place where all creatures and species from all walks of life coexist peacefully," Khaos replies.

"It's a shame that it can only be achieved in death," Zev adds.

Everyone is silent for a moment as we just enjoy watching the scene around us as we finally get to the river. It surprises me when the tree that we're using as the portal isn't in the middle of nowhere and out of sight of everyone but is in clear view of the park, I can still see a lot of people from where we're standing.

"No one else is able to use it, they won't even realise that we've gone, it will just be a case of one moment we're here and the next we're not, they won't even question it," Hades explains before anyone can ask.

"What now?" I ask, somewhat impatiently. I want to get out of here; I want to rest, even if it's just for a moment before we head to the Dragon realm.

I also need to check in with Reaper and make sure that he's prepared to go back there, because even though I suggested it, he's already said that he won't want us to go to the realm without him, so I know he's not going to stay behind.

"I just need to use the spell to open it," Hades replies.

We all watch curiously as he slices his hand and starts to draw a rune on the trunk of the tree. I have no idea what the rune says, but based on the complicated lines, I'd have to assume that it's a complex spell. Blood is only used in the most powerful spells.

It takes him quite a while to draw, but when he's done, he steps back and says a trigger word that makes the bloody rune glow. I can feel the magic build as the portal begins to open.

"Something is wrong, this isn't the right colour," Hades says urgently. "Everyone needs to take a step backward, don't go in."

We all begin to do as he says, the panic in his voice letting us know just how serious it is.

"What is it?" Khaos asks.

"I have no idea," Hades replies, "I've done that spell literally millions of times before, and there's never been an issue."

While they're talking, the glow from the tree is getting bigger, and I grab Loki's hand to pull him further away, hoping that the others all copy and do the same; Loki's hand grips mine tightly.

"It's okay, Love, I've got you, I'm not letting go."

His words are more comforting than I realised that they would be, and I find myself getting ridiculously emotional about them.

"Why isn't it fading since no one is stepping through it?" Mayhem asks.

"I don't know, it's not behaving like a typical portal!" Hades replies.

Before anyone can say anything, a string of magic whips out from the portal and wraps itself around Killian, Storm grabs his other arm as the rest of us yell in panic and rush forward, but it's no good as the magic is too strong and they both get pulled in.

The rest of us don't hesitate as one after the other, we all follow Storm and Kill through the portal; we're not being separated again, especially when we have no idea what is going on or where the portal is leading to.

I glance back over my shoulder as Loki and I head for the portal, following the others through it, and Loki's hand still wrapped tightly in mine.

What I see almost has me stopping in my tracks, but Loki's forward motion continues to pull me toward the portal. As the portal encloses around me, I watch as what I'm sure is Monty and my Uncle standing in the park and having a heated conversation.

What is my Uncle doing in the soul side of the Underworld? Oh, oh no. I can't think about what it implies; I refuse to. I need to know where we've been pulled to.

I can't see a damn thing. The light is still blinding me; panic starts to build. The only thing keeping me mildly calm is Loki's hand in mine.

Finally, I hear Hades, although the alarm in his voice is not reassuring in the slightest, and his words make no sense.

"Shit, we're in the god realm, nobody move." He commands.

Fuck, this can't be good.