Thaddeus and the others came home to a sight they did not expect to see.

He opened the door figuring they were all going to interrupt something, that maybe Violet and Logan were still going at it after so long of not being able to. But instead the house sounded empty, Marea barking up a storm and taking off like a rocket into the living room. Everyone followed, Danny first and foremost because he was worried about his sister and the stupid dog, that something awful had happened.

The kid had been complaining about having a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach all day, and Thaddeus hated himself for having ignored the little God's hidden intuition when they soon found Logan and Violet passed out on the couch, visible wounds on their skin.

"What the fuck?!" Thaddeus yelled, because there were other broken Gods in the room too, but nearly all of them were asleep, the only waking body a small, mousy woman who was holding her hands up defensively.

"Oh my gawd, what's wrong with 'em?!" Wyatt shouted, face paling.

"It isn't what you think," the woman said then, shaking her head. "Athena- I'm with Athena."

"Who the hell is Athena?!" Danny and Albany shouted in unison, and Thaddeus swallowed dryly because he'd forgotten just how ignorant the two were to the entire situation. He'd have liked to blame Violet for that, telling them it was the mob instead of the truth; what a dumb lie.

"What did you do to my sister?!" Danny tacked on, fists clenching at his sides; Thaddeus expected him to lunge, had Albany not been holding onto the kid's shoulders with a death-grip.

"Everyone just calm down," said Hecate then, eyes flashing gold as a wave of magic hit the room, everyone stilling. "Danny, Albany, why don't you two come with me and I will...explain things. I assure that Violet will be alright in the meantime."

And Thaddeus knew that Danny and Albany had no choice in going with Hecate now, not after the zap she'd just given him. So without question, the two turned and awaited following instructions from the Goddess, the only thing either of them being able to say was, "Yes ma'am," and "Okay," in a calm, measured voice, like they hadn't just been violently angry moments ago.

"Damn, that's freaky," Wyatt said, blinking away the haze of magic from his head.

"They will stay calm for now," Hecate said. "Wyatt, you come with us. I need you to gather some things for me to aid in the process of making them understand."

"Is this gonna be full of magic?" Wyatt asked, a bit anxious.

"Yes," Hecate said, and the boy flinched, but didn't say no as the Goddess ushered the group of youths towards the kitchen, throwing a warning glance at Thaddeus over her shoulder. "Watch out for them," she mouthed in reference to Logan and Violet before disappearing.

"Okay, lady, start explaining," Thaddeus said then, turning back to Athena's little handmaiden with a glare. "What's wrong with everyone?"

"They're trying to find the map," the woman squeaked, wringing her slim hands together nervously. "They had to go to...Tartarus."

"What?!" Thaddeus yelled, Chad mirroring the shock next to him while Myrtle sat down on the couch, patting Violet and Logan's hands softly in an almost sympathetic gesture.

"It's the only way to find the map for the Key," the woman said. "Athena and the others have gone with 'em, and that's why they appear to be asleep. Although, it seems any damage done to them in the sleepin' realm happens in the waking one as well. I think Athena has even broken her arm." The woman pointed at the Goddess in question, the bruising skin and twisted angle. "Nemesis and her group are there too, and they are fighting for the map."

"Why didn't the boss tell us?" Thaddeus asked, pulling at his hair in irritation, especially when he noticed the fresh blood dripping down Violet's neck- now that really worried him even more than the Logan's own black eye or split lip.

"We were not supposed to come until tomorrow," the woman said. "But…"

"Bah-uh-t?" Thaddeus prompted, impatient.

"Nemesis and the others went looking for the map early, so we had to try and stop them today. Everyone has been asleep for hours!" The woman shook her head, looked up at Thaddeus and sighed softly. "I'm Eirenne, by the way. I'm real sorry you guys didn't know about this... You're Thanatos and Charon, right?"

"Yes," Thaddeus said, beginning to pace as he tried to figure out the situation.

"Is Eirenne all you go by though?" Chad asked after a moment, trying to distill the palpable tension in the air. "I prefer Chad, and this big lug-" he pointed at Thaddeus, who frowned but did not stop pacing- "goes by Thaddeus."

"I like my human name- Sally," the woman smiled, nose twitching up.

"Okay, Sally," Thaddeus sighed, counted his footsteps to try and calm himself if only a little. "It seems like we should take care of everyone's injuries while they're out, since we apparently got nothing better to do than wait." He stopped then, waiting for her to answer.

Sally's face fell, teeth worrying at her lower lip. "I tried that," she said after a second. "But ev'ry time you try to touch one of 'em, you get zapped."

"Zapped?" Thaddeus asked.

"Zapped," Sally nodded. "Like you're getting electrocuted."

"Seriously?!" Chad asked. "But Myrtle's touching them!"

"I got connections to the Underworld," Myrtle said, smiling up at him, dentures shifting a little in the gesture. "It don't hurt me too much."

"We have connections too though," Thaddeus said after a moment, reaching out to test the theory. He poked at Logan's shoulder, a sudden electric current running through his fingertip and straight to his chest. "Shit!" he said pulling back, shaking the friction out of his hand. "Not unbearable, but that is a wallop. How the hell are you handling it so calmly, Myrtle?"

The old woman hummed, brushing Violet's hair out of her face. "Momma keeps me grounded," she said, gave no further answer.

Thaddeus simply blinked, turned to Chad and shook his head. "I need a drink," he said. "You go watch Hecate with Danny and Albany. Make sure they're okay." Chad nodded, hurried off towards where the others had disappeared as Thaddeus walked to the alcohol cart at the edge of the room, poured himself a glass of whiskey, thought for a moment and turned to Sally with a raised brow. "Want some?"

"No thank you," she said, shaking her head softly and looking at Athena with a forlorn sort of worry.

"Suit yourself," Thaddeus shrugged, downing the glass in one go. He poured himself another. "It's gonna be a long night."


Violet struggled against Ariadne's grip, but it felt like a pathetic attempt. The woman was much stronger than her, stored divinity come to life.

"Calm down, Violet," she whispered as the girl continued to struggle. "You are just going to hurt yourself."

"Piss off!" Violet snarled, the blade in Ariadne's hand pressing deeper into her throat; it stung, but Violet wasn't about to let the feeling best her. There was too much adrenaline pumping into her system, fight over flight the closer Nemesis came towards them.

"Not another step, bitch," Artemis said then, arrow aimed for Nemesis' heart. "Don't think I won't shoot you."

"And don't think I won't shoot her," Apollo said, his own bow raised, arrow directed at Ariadne's skull.

It was then Nemesis laughed, the Gods behind her smiling like snakes. "Do you honestly think I care if you kill her?" the Goddess said with a small wave of her hand in Ariadne's direction. "By all means, shoot her. She is expendable in all this."

For her part, Ariadne didn't looked phased; instead she simply said, "Be smart about this, Archer Twins. You are outnumbered here. Even if you kill Nemesis and I, the others will rip you apart before you can even begin to string another arrow. And Violet will be dead by then, too." For emphasis, she dragged the blade along the line of Violet's throat, drawing a sharp cut that began to run red into the hollows of Violet's collarbones.

At that Violet couldn't help but whimper, the ache too strong. Luckily the wound wasn't large, but it was deep and warm and completely not right. Shuddering, Violet tried to jerk away again, yet Ariadne kept a steady grip on her.

Nemesis laughed about it, all red lips and straight, white teeth. "Come on, dear ones. Let's not fight. I know you're threatened for your precious thrones, but I promise that in time you will come to realize that the age of a new rule is upon us!"

"Fuck our thrones!" Artemis yelled. "All we care about is stopping you idiots from releasing the Titans and ending the world!" As an afterthought she added, "Fuckers," to the statement and turned, let her arrow fly.

Everything happened at one after that, the arrow striking Ariadne's hand, the woman dropping Violet when blinded by pain, Nemesis and her group rushing forwards. Violet watched from the ground a moment as one of the group went down, an arrow to the leg from Apollo as his twin reloaded. Violet had just enough sense left after her dizziness from falling to get up, dodge a sudden hand grabbing for her.

It was Pallas, a face she remembered from that night in the warehouse, a smirk at his lips. He grabbed for her again, tried to get his hands around her throat where the cut was. Even in panic, Violet remembered Artemis' words: It's fairly easy to manipulate this realm once you have the hang of it. And Ariadne had sworn that Violet had made the trees fall, that she'd been able to manipulate this place better than the rest.

"Let me go!" Violet yelled then, concentrated her hardest on things long forgotten. "Let. Me. Go." The giant vines that spewed forth then were very unexpected, materializing out of nowhere, out of the lava itself. They grabbed hold of Pallas and flung, the fallen God screaming as he was thrown into the forest, out of sight.

The vines withered quickly after that, but Violet didn't let the power leave her completely. She used it to run, past the fight ensuing around her and towards the tower beyond. That didn't last long though, as she was tackled from behind by Ariadne, who held Violet down even with her bleeding hand, blonde hair spilling forth into Violet's eyes.

"Stop struggling," Ariadne hissed. "Just stay still. I do not want to hurt you, Violet."

Violet blinked, opened her mouth to curse at the woman for all of her lies, when suddenly Ariadne winked, a small smile on the corners of her perfect, pink mouth. "Wha…?" Violet began to say, but it was then the true horrors began.

Violet recognized Athena as the first body to come out of the woods, followed by Metis and...Logan. Violet nearly cried out to him, but Ariadne covered her mouth with her bleeding hand, sickening copper and warmth. Michael came next, a limping Pallas at his side. And then there were the monsters, more than Violet cared to count.

"This is where we part ways for now, Dark Queen," Ariadne said, her pretty face pulling into an expression of pain within the next second. She fell off of Violet then, an arrow sticking out through her shoulder. "This is the time when you run," she grunted, gave that same smirk she had moments before.

It was then Violet realized that when Ariadne had first grabbed her, it'd been an act, that she'd been stalling for the others to get here. Violet gaped, only waited a moment before turning to look at the tower again, where Nemesis was close to reaching its steps. While her lackies had been doing the dirty work for her, Nemesis had spent the entire time getting as close to the map as possible.

"Thank you," Violet said to Ariadne, who simply smiled as Violet turned and ran for the tower.

"Hurry, Violet!" she heard then, recognized the voice as Logan's right away. She turned slightly to see him helping an injured Athena fighting off what looked to be a Chimera monster, wondered for a split second what they'd gotten themselves into for the creature to have chased them all the way here into this broken, burning land.

The thought was quick though, sounds of struggle fleeting behind her as she ran as hard as she could, reaching the tower's steps just as Nemesis began to climb them. No one was following Violet, she realized, everyone too caught up fighting each other and once mythical beasts as she followed up after Nemesis, bare feet burning on the stone beneath them.

Breath in gasps, she caught up to Nemesis just at the tower landing, the two circling around the map's resting place as Nemesis smirked her challenging approval. The map was held high on a stone pillar, floating above hellfire. They would have to climb the pillar if there was any chance of reaching the map, jagged stone ledges their only hope of getting there.

"First to the top wins, dearest," Nemesis chuckled, setting her feet steady.

"You're on," Violet said, and the both of them surged forwards at the same time.

The ledges were slippery, but Violet managed to grab the first one and pull herself up without too much trouble. She was thankful that she'd never been afraid of heights, that she'd loved climbing trees and the rock wall at the park when she was young. Slow and steady, she told herself with each step. It won't help anything if you fall and kill yourself.

Both she and Nemesis kept even pace, the war still raging at the bottom of the tower heard through its windows. Violet let out a violent breath, tried not to think about the others and their safety, focused on the task in front of her.

But it was halfway up the pillar she heard the screeching, something from nightmares come alive.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Nemesis said then, just as the dragon stormed the tower.


Gods, Violet thought within the next second the shine of the monster's eyes forever ingrained into her vision. She hadn't seen a dragon in thousands of years, and so she couldn't help but be amazed even as the creature began attacking.

It was about the size of a large elephant, pointed horns and red scales with massive, massive claws. Its scream sounded like a mix between a snake and a dying bird of prey; its wings were probably as big as Violet herself, and it never took its eyes off of her.

The first wave of fire from its mouth hit the opposite side of the pillar that she and Nemesis were climbing, sudden heat singing the ends of Violet's hair. She held her breath, climbed higher and higher as someone screamed from the ground below.

Arrows came flying then, pierced the dragon's hide and had it circling back, away from Violet and Nemesis as the two fallen Goddesses tried their hardest to reach the map first. They'd nearly made it to the top of the pillar by now, the dragon swooping down to snap its teeth at them before an arrow caught it in the eye, had it nipping at Nemesis' leg, but sustaining the woman no major damage.

"Damn," Violet murmured, and kept climbing.

Each of them made it to the top of the pillar at the same time, heaving for breath. The pillar's surface spread out wider than its base; Violet guessed that either woman was maybe four yards from the map, its holding table glowing as red as the dragon's mouth.

"On your mark," Nemesis laughed, toying with Violet as she leaned down into a running crouch. "Get set…"

Violet ran, heard Nemesis laughing maliciously and calling out, "That's cheating!" just as the dragon came spilling over the pillar's edge.

The two rushed towards the map, dodging this way and that to avoid being roasted to death. Violet could feel the smoke of it in her lungs, her name being shouted from the tower floor as the others spilled in one by one, still battling monsters, trying to come through.

And she and Nemesis reached the map at the same time, heat radiating off of it in waves. It was in pieces, Violet realized then, just as Athena had said it would be. She stared at it for a long moment, reached out towards the bubble of heat that surrounded it, and suddenly the pieces pulled together in a beam of light.

"Half the job done, thanks to your Underworld touch," Nemesis smirked. "Do you dare finish what you started?" she asked, watching the way the flesh on Violet's fingers was turning red from the heat before them.

"I lived through you, I can live through this," Violet said.

They reached for the map at the same time, overwhelming heat burning their skin. Violet grit her teeth, heard the dragon screeching in the background, circling in. With the map in her grip, she pulled, used every bit of strength she could.


The map ripped.


And one moment everything was fire and blood, the next it was darkness and the warmth of Logan's living room, the softness of the couch below her.

With a gasp, Violet lurched forwards on the couch, hair still smoking, Athena's amulet clutched in her burned hand, half broken off because half of the map was missing. She blinked, wild rush of disappointment and pain as she turned to look at Logan, who was sitting up woozily on the couch. They glanced at each other in a small moment of relief, neither one of them dead, when suddenly screaming erupted in the room.

Violet looked over to find Metis covered in blood, the twins and Sally and Thaddeus at her side as Athena stood back in horror, clutching a broken arm to her chest.

Chad came rushing into the room then, Danny and Albany and Hecate and Wyatt behind him; Violet found her brother's terrified eyes, realization in their depths. He knows, she realized in sudden shock, looked back to the catastrophe with dread. Oh Gods, he knows.

Everything happened in a blur after that, Thaddeus and Chad rushing Athena and Metis to the hospital, Apollo and Wyatt tagging along for protection and alibi to to doctors that it'd been a hunting accident that had caused the women's injuries. Eirenne and Artemis stayed behind to try and make sense of the map, or rather the half of it that Violet was able to obtain. When twisted in the right sequence, the amulet projected an invisible atlas across the floor, but only half of it, lines through the ocean.

Violet shook her head as she watched, chewed at her nails nervously when Logan approached her side, frowning. "I just got off the phone with Thaddeus," he said, patched cut above his eye glaring in the hall light; Hecate had fixed them all up the best she could, but it was strikingly obvious how broken everyone was. "The doctors bought the story, but they had to induce Metis into a coma in order for her body to heal itself. The Minotaur that attacked her pierced through one of her kidneys, and the toxins in her body leaked out. The doctors were afraid she would go septic if she stayed awake and in pain, which made her blood flow faster and allowed the infection to spread. She'll be out for a few days until they can get things under control."

"Poor woman," Violet said, glancing over to Danny who sat quietly next to Albany on the couch, refusing to look at Violet as steadfastly as he could. "She could die, all for some stupid map I didn't even get."

"You got half of it," Logan said, trying to wrap his arms comfortingly around Violet's waist; she stiffened, not wanting to be touched right now. He let go. "We have something at least; as much as the others have."

Artemis popped her head up then, cut down the side of her face leaking through the bandages wrapped over it. "It at least tells us we're looking to go to the middle of Europe," she said, pointing a fingers across the lines of the glowing atlas on the floor. "It cuts off right in the middle, so the exact position is blurred. But this amulet is enchanted enough that now that we have a start, once we get close enough to the Key it'll start acting as a tracker for it."

"You're sure it's mid-Europe?" Logan asked.

"The Mediterranean, to be more specific," Sally said softly, not looking up from the map as she studied it carefully.

"I'll go make flight plans for tomorrow night, then," Logan said. "That should give Athena enough time to recover before we begin traveling."

"Who'll watch Metis?" Artemis asked snappily.

"I will arrange for that to be taken care of, too," Logan said, disappeared from the room with purpose.

Artemis scrunched her face to the side in a glower, looked back down at the map and started tracing it onto a piece of paper for practical use. Violet watched her for just a moment, glanced back up at Danny and Albany after it became unbearable not to, an itch she had to scratch. The latter finally chanced a look over, meeting Violet's eyes and swallowing nervously before looking away again.

Sighing, Violet cleared the space between them, stopping before Danny and Albany with a nervous ring of her hands. "Can we talk?" she asked, half expected for them to refuse, but eventually they stood, followed after her towards the library.

Violet shut the door behind them, turned to face the people she loved and had lied to for so long. "So," she said. "How much do you know?"