The Underworld has never been considered a cheery place, but the rumors about it were not all true. Yes it was cold, but only in certain places, no it was not burning with fire everywhere, I actually detested fire; and it most certainly was not Hell, be whatever mortals think about it, the Underworld is not Hell, it is my home, and I know it better than anyone on the Council, spare James, and apparently my sister Calliope. The Underworld itself was built around the souls, they dictated what directions it pointed, how far it stretched, and many more of the variables that make up the maze. My family had always struggled with this concept, for me though it is like a puzzle to get lost in, a Rubic's cube if you wish. James brought one of those down here once and when he left it, I might have taken it upon myself to try it. It frustrated me to no end and finally I gave up and put it away in a drawer swearing never to try again.

Now though, I appeared before the Gates of Tartarus and waited patiently for my brothers to arrive. Standing in a small grassy forest I could almost feel Ingrid near. She was worried, but underneath that there was a stubborn determination to know what was going on and why Calliope had just up and left earlier. It brought a sad smile to my face to think about Ingrid, even sadder was to think of the ten girls that had followed her. I didn't bother to think about the twelfth, she was here now surely and according to Ava hissing in the back of my mind, she wasn't happy. As I heard this, I froze in fear, Kate was upset to be here? That nagging voice in the back of my mind that had been whispering ever since Diana had gone off to raise her child whispered that it would turn out just like Persephone. Kate would hate the Underworld, and then she would leave me one day, and as if matters could not be worse, the voice whispered that she would probably leave with James. It had felt like a punch to the gut when James had run after her and then waited by the gates of Eden manor to take her out on her first summer away. He had been all smiles then and was probably now, maybe even triumphant. James was not one to shove things in my face, but he did gloat, and when he did it was often obvious as to what he was gloating about.

Phillip landed near me and grumbled as he brushed dirt off his jacket, apparently he had landed in the wrong place first and then had to appear here. Walter stepped out from a little farther away and glanced around like a fox scanning the bushes for a hunting dog. He laid his eyes on me and then whispered, "What is the problem now?"

Walter in a small way was furious with me for not deterring Calliope further when she had gone after me seeking comfort. I looked away quickly and murmured, "The gates, they feel-"

"Oh! You're all here now!"

I flip around and standing there with a smug smile is Calliope, her hands clasped in glee in front of her and her eyes alight with a new kind of malice. I stand to my full height and then say, "Calliope, stop this, now."

She laughs and then shaking her finger at me like a parent correcting a small child she said, "Your little wife never said anything about me talking to other members of my family."

I set my jaw tightly and then calling on every once of patients I have I say, "Calliope, please. What you are aiming for is not going to help you."

Her smile falls and is replaced with a sneer as she says, "Who are you to tell me what to do?"

With obvious effort Walter stands taller next to me and says, "Step away from the Gates Calliope."

She laughs, her sneer replaced with a maniac smile as she says, "You especially can't tell me what to do."

I take a step towards her and she takes an involuntary step back as she says, "Henry, all you have to do to stop this is-"

"No! Calliope either you step away from the Gates, or I will forcibly move you." I hiss the word at her and she flinches as if I spit poison on her. She stands up to he full height and then with a little laugh that sounds like small bells chiming, she smiles at me and says, "Then you have signed you have signed Kate's death."

That broke something.

When I was first on the Earth I was wandering around and saw a dam break. It had been a small thing, but the humans had scattered in terror and the water had washed away everything. Before it had broken though someone had been tapping away at it with a hammer until the pressure had built and it had shattered out like glass. Calliope had been tapping away at my patients for thousands of years, and the past year had been enough to break my dam. I narrowed my eyes at her and raised my hand whispered, "Then you have brought this on yourself."

Her eyes widen in terror and she shouts, "Father!"

I laugh softly and whisper, "he never helped any of us sister, what makes you think now will be any different?"

Before I can do anything though, a tendril of golden light snaps out from the gates and hits me straight across the chest like a whip. I cry out in pain as I'm thrown backwards and into the dirt. I hit the ground and the wind is knocked out of my body. I groan in agony and Calliope laughs in triumph. When I look up Walter and Phillip are backing away slowly and I sneer at the pain and my stupidity.

Softly, I can almost feel something brush against my cheek, like breath, like someone breathing softly out. My eyes widen and I slip into the closest thing I have to a vision. Standing in front of me, barely even a outline is Kate. Her eyes a wide in terror and I realize with a pang of agony, that she is terrified of me.

Then she is gone, like a ghost vanishing in a wisp of smoke, and I find myself back in front of the Gates. Phillip is pulling me to my feet but I stumble and then I feel it, that sticky, slick feeling on my chest. I grab at my shirt and glance down to see the large blood stain stretching from my shoulder to my stomach. I press my arm to it in terror and then choke, "Theo, we need to get back and get Theo."

Philip nods and then stabilizes me as I take a stumbling step foreword. When I look up again Walter is standing in front of the Gates and Calliope is gone. So is Cronus. But that doesn't mean anything. He could be anywhere now, wandering around the Underworld, breaking through on the surface, anywhere. He was breaking out, and we were not prepared, we are not ready, never have been ready for this. We had defeated our father in the hope that we would never see him again, but our sister had gone about and destroyed all we had built and she had doomed us all.

With a soft voice Philips whispers, "Walter, we must go. Henry is hurt."

Walter glances over, his mind obviously occupied elsewhere, before saying, "Yes of course. I will be there shortly."

I supress a snort, my brother may have been King of the Skies and the unspoken King of the Gods, but this was my realm, which I ruled. He had walked over me the entire time at Eden Manor. Now though, I was in charge and it was difficult not to pull the upper hand in this situation.

"Walter, there is nothing we can do. The gates will not open unless I want them to. Now we must get back and inform the council of this advancement." My words draw his attention and with a tight nod he vanishes on the spot. Philip sighs and then pulls me along with him back towards my home.

I appear on my own in the bedroom and sit weakly on the edge of the bed. From what I can hear, there are two people whispering in the closet, both female, one definitely Ava. Then there is a little squeak of what sounds like surprise and she's standing in the doorway. Her brown hair falling casually down her back, and her blue eyes filled with nervous excitement. Kate. She didn't look much different but I can tell that something has changed in her, be it she's aged or something. Maybe it's just the fact that she is an immortal now, I'm not to sure though.

I suppress the shaking in my hands and try to offer her a smile, but her smile falls as she looks down at the blood that has soaked through my shirt.