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No!

Frorief swelled and when she gave vent to it, it shattered the pool and rocked the garden around her

"I am Apollymia Thanata Deia Fonia!" she screa

She was ulti her son hoods haveto have none for theod of death and the Underworld, stood in the center of his throne roo in disbelief at their newest arrival who lay in one of the darkest cells of Tartarus

And he hadn&039;t put him there

He looked down at the tiround his teeth It was still three months before his ould be returned to the Underworld to be with him But honestly, he had to speak with her

It couldn&039;t wait

"Persephone?" he called, hoping her h to hear hiether Not that it would be a bad thingif only it would kill her

An ie of his wife flickered in the darkness by his side "Butterbean!" Persephone breathed "I was justterrible"

He really hated the nicknaods that she only used them when the two of theods But he could forgive his beautiful wife anything "Where&039;s yourover so he needed was for Deht hih hiestured toward the wall that showed the cells where his prisoners were kept "Because I&039;ods and right now I&039;d love to knohose ass I need to bust over this latest fiasco"

She solidified before hi her hand, he led her to the cell where they could see inside, but the occupant inside was completely unable to see them

At least that was the normal case In this one, who knehat the occupant could and couldn&039;t see?

He pointed to the blue-fleshed god who lay cuddled into a ball on the floor "Any idea who killed that and sent it here?"

Eyes wide, Persephone shook her head "What is it?"

"Well, I&039;odAtlanteanlike hio and hasn&039;t moved I&039;d try to destroy his soul and send him into complete oblivion, but I don&039;t think I have the powers to do it In fact, I&039;, all I&039;d do is piss him off"

Persephone nodded "Well, sweetie, my advice to you is if you can&039;t defeat it, befriend it"

"Befriend it how?"

Persephone smiled at her husband as far from a sociable entity Tall and eous, even when befuddled and angry "Wait here" She opened the door to the cell and od

The closer she moved toward him, the more she understood Hades&039;s concern There was so od that the air was rife with it She&039;d been around the gods her whole life, but this one was different His ely attractive as it covered a body of perfect proportions Long black hair fanned out He had two black horns on top of his head and black lips and claws

And od of creation He was one of ultiet out of there

She held her hand up to signal her husband that she was fine Her legs treod

He opened his eyes that were a yellow orange encircled by red They flashed fro silver color And they were filled with raw anguish

"Am I dead?" he asked, his voice demonic

"You want to be dead?" She actually dreaded his answer because if he didn&039;t want to be dead, there could be serious consequences

"Please tell ed at her heart Reaching up to comfort him, she brushed the black hair back frood you live"

"I don&039;t understand I don&039;t want to be any different than anyone else I just want to be left alone"

Persephone s as you want" She summoned a pillow for him and tucked it under his head Then she covered hi so nice to me?"

"Because you seeot up "If you need anything, I&039;e here You call for us and we&039;ll coave a subtle nod before he closed his eyes and returned to lying quietly in the darkness

Mystified by him, she returned to her husband "He&039;s harmless"

"Harmless, my ass Seph? Are you insane? Can you not feel the powers he holds?"

"Oh I feel theht He&039;s hurt, Hades Badly All he wants is to be left alone"

"Yeah, right Left alone here in od whose powers rival mine? Fuck that They trump mine How stupid would I have to be? You know there&039;s a reason pantheons don&039;tto cal"

"Until the friend turns on you"

She shook her head "Hades"

"I&039;m a lot older than you, Seph I&039;ve seen what can happen when one god turns on another"

"And I think he poses no harm to either of us" She lifted herself up on her toes to kiss his cheek "I have to go before ets when I see you during her time with ether before he could let fly the insult "I love you both Now behave and take care of your guest"

Only his wife could get aith treating hi so cavalier with his body But then she held his heart and he&039;d give her anything

He kissed her finger "I miss you"

"I ht

But there was nothing to be done about that

He nodded glumly, then cursed as she faded away fro theer probleht, that god-killer was definitely one big proble her ghostly pale hair around her and plastering her black gown to her liered on the rocks of the sea where Apostolos&039;s body rested in a broken heap Her precious son had been du

Unshed tears racked her She was so cold inside So defeated SoThere were no words to describe the anguish of her seeing her son&039;s body lying face down in the water, abandoned and forgotten

Throay

After all they&039;d done to him, they couldn&039;t even provide a decent funeral

Weak frorief, she sank to her knees in a pool of water and pulled him from the rocks to the beach Unable to stand it, she screaht

"Apostolos!"

But he couldn&039;t hear her His body was as cold as her heart His silver eyes were open and glazed, and even now, they swirled like a stormy sky Yet for all the horror of his death, his features were serene

And they were beautiful More so than any mother could have hoped for She saw in his face, herself Saw her hopes for hi

And they had butchered him Tortured him Defiled and hu on a sob, she ran her hand over the long gash in his chest to seal it closed Only then, when he was perfect again did her tears break as she laid her lips to his cheek to kiss him and cry

This was the first time she&039;d held hi him close, she rocked him on the beach and let all the horror inside her free "I tried to protect you, Apostolos," she breathed against his ear "I tried so hard"

She&039;d failed miserably and in her atte to co it was too late, she futilely rubbed his cold arms to warm them

If only he could look at her Hear her voice But he never would

And she would never hear him call her matera

It was more than she could stand "Please," she breathed "Please come back to me, Apostolos I swear I&039;ll keep you safe this time I won&039;t let anyone hurt you Please, baby, I can&039;t live knowing I killed you I can&039;t Look at me, please!"

But he couldn&039;t and she knew it

If only she had the power to restore his life But unlike his father, she was born of destruction Death Pestilence War Those were her gifts to the world There was nothing she could do to bring back the one she loved most

"Why!" she screamed at the sky Where were the Chthonians now to demand blood over the death of her precious child? Why weren&039;t they here on Apostolos&039;s behalf?

They didn&039;t care No one cared, but her

And Xiamara who&039;d tried so hard to save him Xiamara, her closest friend The only one she&039;d ever been able to confide in Closer than sisters, closer than one

Apollymi was alone Bitterly alone

She cradled her son&039;s head to her breasts and screamed out so loud that the sound was carried on the wind all the way to the halls of Atlantis "Damn you, Archon! Damn you!"

How could he have ever claimed he loved her? How could he have allowed Apostolos to die like this? To suffer so much pain?

Her heart broken, she buried her face in her son&039;s wet blond hair and cried until her sobs were spent

Then her fury mounted and took a vicious root into her heart They&039;d both been betrayed by the very ones ere supposed to love and honor them

Now there would be Kalosis to pay

It was tied Time to make her so called family bleed for their betrayal

Her course set, Apollymi clothed her son in the black forht As the son of the Destroyer, his symbol was that of the sun that represented her, pierced by the three lightning bolts of his power

He wasn&039;t garbage He was an Atlantean god

And he was the son of the Destroyer

Picking hi him in her arms, she took them both home to Katoteros

It was an island surrounded by islands Breathtakingly beautiful, there was no place in the huhest point, where her mother the North Wind shrieked on her behalf, Apollymi looked out over the landscape that should have been owned by Apostolos

The islands sparkled in the perfect light under the sun that attempted to warht housed the paradise lands where the souls of their Atlantean people went to rest until reincarnation The one on her left had been held by the Charontes before her banishment-unlike her family, her demons had been loyal to her They had all followed her into Kalosis

And the island before her had been intended as the home of her son

But it was the one that possessed the second highest point in Katoteros that held her attention now The one that ruled and united all the islands It was the one where the hall of the gods had been built

Archon&039;s

Her vision darkening, she took therand marble hall that stood so tall and proud as it looked down upon their world Music and laughter drifted out to her

Music and laughter

Oblivious to what had co a party A fucking party She could feel the presence of every god inside All of the fun

And her beloved son was dead

Dead!

Her world was shattered And still they laughed

Holding Apostolos close, she ascended the stairs with a deceptive cal the doors ith her powers The whiteup station every four feet against the pristine walls

Her heart hah the center of the foyer where her emblem of the sun had been etched into the floor As she crossed over it, she changed it to that of Apostolos One by one, his bolts of power pierced her syrief and his spilled blood

Without hesitating, she walked straight for the set of gold doors that led to Archon&039;s throne rooods made merry while her son lay dead from their treachery

By all the dark powers of the universe, they wouldn&039;t be laughing for er

She opened those doors with the full force of her fury The clattering sound rang out as the doors slaes to fall to the shiny, perfect floor

The od in the hall turned to look at her and one by one, their faces blanched white