Prologue Fading Away

Before the war Ava and Calliope had been friends. Ava had loved her just like she loved, really, everyone. And, even though she'd murdered her, Ava couldn't find it in her heart to hate Calliope.

Even though she should have.

After fading Ava didn't have an afterlife. She'd always known she wouldn't, but now that she was dead for real, she missed it. Back when Kate had still thought she was mortal, they used to talk about what Ava's paradise would be like when she left Eden Manor. Ava missed those talks. She missed Kate.

She could still feel. In her faded world, she had no sense of time or place. Only that she was dead. She could still miss people and think and, to her, that was the worst. She could only wonder what had happened. Had Cronus gone willingly after letting her die? Was he in Tartarus? Would he break out again? So many questions that she would never know the answers to.

Calliope understood. Somehow, the two of them were together. Maybe every god or goddess was after they faded, but, so far, they hadn't found Iris who had been killed by the dagger or any of the other minor gods and goddesses who had faded over the years.

Ava felt a tap on her shoulder. Calliope. In this place the faces they had taken on had faded. Calliope looked the same as she had millennia ago as the mother of Ava's husband: strong, wise, and beautiful.

"Are you okay?" the woman asked tiredly.

Ava nodded. "Just thinking about everyone. Wondering how Milo is."

At the mention of Kate and Henry's son's name, Calliope tensed. But, she swallowed. "He has wonderful parents, so I'm sure he's fine."

Ava nodded and turned to look at her mother-in-law. "What you did for them was amazing, you know."

A slight flush rose in Calliope's worn cheeks. "It was for Henry. And Callum. Not for that girl."

Ava shrugged. "It was still a beautiful thing you did. If she knew, I know Kate would thank you."

Calliope waved a non-committal hand.

Just then the area around them shook and Ava's eyes widened. "It came from that way this time." She pointed in a direction through the grey fog and stood from where she was sitting. Calliope took her arm and the two of them walked in the direction.

For a while now there had been shakes like earthquakes, but Ava knew that it wasn't Phillip making them this time. She wished Kate were there; Kate would know what to do. She sent a thought, thinking of Kate in her mind, but knowing it would never reach her.

The fog around them darkened from grey to a black and the area around them shook again. It was more this time, stronger. Harder. Ava frowned. "H-Hera? This looks like..."

"Cronus, I know." Calliope's face had suddenly grown grim and she had aged ten years in ten seconds. "I know where we are," she murmured softly, "and why we can't get out. We're underneath Tartarus."

"So, we're not actually dead? But, I thought when we faded for good...?

"Well, obviously not. Here, though, we're farther down than Typhon. And if he couldn't get out..."

"He can't get out," Ava corrected her mother-in-law softly. "None of them can." She swallowed and gripped her arm tighter. "Right?"

"Henry didn't reinforce the barrier for the other Titans. And we can't tell him to. I... When I raised Cronus, I must have damaged the lock to the portal." Calliope's voice was ashamed and scared. The world around them shook more this time, so much the two of them stumbled a bit, and they could hear a roar. Calliope's eyes glazed over with recognition.

"But," Ava whispered, shaking, "if that's so, then that means..."

"The Council had better be ready for another war. The other Titans are waking up."