Note: Just a heads up. If you know Greek gods, you know that when dirty laundry gets aired, so do certain overly intimate family relations. Because that's what the Greek gods did, quite a bit. Chapter title excerpted from Fate by Trans Siberian Orchestra.

…..

There is no time for Vivi's distress over your state. No time for farewells with Kay. No time for advice from Mystery-who swiftly feathers himself and takes off into the searing overland sky with Kay-only time for a brief whisper from Hades to Chloe. You should be able to hear what he says, but you are beginning to fear the cost, even for heightened senses, and refuse to use them.

When we have won, we will make time for everything. I am sick to death of there never being enough time.

You laugh at yourself. Winning this war only means turning to the next war. You almost prefer to face Demeter, for next you must face yourself, and that fight will last for the rest of your miserable life.

I can do it. With Kay I can do it.

You do not even know if she will take you now.

If she will not take me, she will keep me contained. Either way, you lose.

So you say, Puppet, but we shall see.

Hades is anything but gentle as he drags you by your rags through the underworld. You do not see Vivi, Teles, or Chloe. Where have they gone? We have been too involved with our own selves to take note, we must take notice of all now, the house of cards is so precarious.

You cannot help but admire when the tunnels are no longer rock, but obsidian set with shimmering blue and green stones so thick-set and scattered that they approximate the night sky underground-but closer and therefore more brilliant.

Did he mold the land to ease his bride with familiarity? Did the god of the underworld know beauty before her?

Of course he did. He has gems and precious metals and the fire of the land's core at his whim. You saw little of it because you were in the dungeons. Perhaps he shaped nothing for her, perhaps his realm was always like this. Likely you will never know for sure, it is not nearly a high enough priority to ask after.

How far did he have to stretch his strength to rescue Persephone?

You already know. You are stretched to your own limits for similar reasons.

The tunnel fades from obsidian to jade, carved in dagger-sharp facets and points that reach out from the walls, as if in warning. Hades' steps drag, as if his feet are more difficult to lift each time. The scent of overladen roses and roast grain teases your senses, and you know you approach the edge of Hades' domain.

There Hades pauses a moment. He reaches into his robes and withdraws a fistful of hyacinth and moss, pressing it to his face. Then he returns it and withdraws something else.

Arthur's eyes widened as Hades withdrew a golden plume from his robe.

"I would that you let her be, mortal. It is never wise to try and return to what was when it has passed beyond repair. But do not think me incapable of understanding or sympathizing. That being said, you have your wish within your grasp." He reached down, tucking the feather into Arthur's hand. "Remember why you are doing this."

He is a fool if he thinks it is possible for us to forget-

Arthur pressed the feather to his face, allowing the memory of Kay's song to wash over him again. He was Arthur Kingsmen. He was about to face the person truly responsible for the Pepper family's ruin. And he would finally bring justice.

There was nowhere to hide or keep the feather, so he let it fall to the ground. Raising his head he nodded to Hades, who dragged him on. No, up. The passage angled sharply up, the floor inclining more and more until it was no longer an incline but a sheer wall. And still Hades walked it, allowing Arthur to hang down by threadbare rags from his grasp.

You hold your breath. You will be before Demeter soon, and it must not be Arthur before her. It must be me. Her beaten, submissive, footlicking servant.

You cannot see the transition from underground to surface, dangled as you are, but the jade wall is gone, Hades' feet firmly planted on the powdery red soil of the land above his. We are dragged across a bridge and thrown down to the perfectly uniform grass at an all too familiar pair of feet.

"Well, Lord Hades." The voice is calm. Assured, with a hint of mockery. "One would hope you do not treat all your guests this way. Particularly my daughter."

"Do not fear, Demeter. I am well acquainted with the difference between an unwelcome intruder and my wife."

"Intruder? Is this true, pet?" She drips with such concern. "Did you enter his realm?"

You grunt in admission, willing your face puffier, your bruises louder and more colorful.

"Do not try and extricate yourself from this." His voice does not waver and every word is round and cold. He must be stone. "My pet goes nowhere without my knowledge, and neither does yours. You sent a mind-drinker and a soul-drainer to my realm."

"Are you accusing me, brother?" Demeter asked. You can hear the edge of triumph on her words.

Take the bait, Lord Hades. You have to take it, we are almost there.

"I am accusing you."

"Well. This is quite a serious matter, then." Demeter crouches over you, her hands soft on your wounds. "I suppose we must go to Zeus and settle this, then. I must attend to my pet after your generous hospitality. We shall meet at Olympus next dawn, then?"

The sky darkens. A drop of rain hits the back of your head. Hades doesn't falter. "There is no need for that. I have already sent for him. He has come to settle our dispute."

Lightning strikes the ground a few feet from your face and you recoil, whining in fear. But you are exuberant as the roiling earth within Demeter's form goes perfectly still for a fraction of a moment.

We did it. We caught her off guard. Now to keep her there and close the trap. So close…

…..

Someone was coming. The press of life around him crowded thick and heavy and dark. Angry at the intrusion and violation of its order. The hedges shifted, writhing branches within themselves in distress.

Lewis stood in the tree, keeping a firm hold on Dulcie with one arm and gathering his hatred in a fiery orb in the other. Deadbeats fanned out, scanning the area. Two squawked and Lewis seized on their senses, peering through their eyes.

Winging low over the hedges were two strange birds. One white with brown spots and a red crest, trailing a tail of red feathers. Its beak switched through the air, back and forth, and its flight path was bringing it dangerously close to their hiding place. The other bird was gold with a cold, hard eye. This one carried a long black stone in its claws. Each crisscrossed the Cage just above the hedges.

Lewis was unwilling to attract more attention to himself than necessary, not with Demeter's threat hanging over his head. He leaped down, scattering the Deadbeats to find a more secluded spot, preferably one with the hedges overshadowing the ground so he could hide.

Then Pachelbel's Canon in D curled through the air.

All Deadbeats homed in on the golden bird, now singing as it swept over the hedges.

"Lewis!" Dulcie cried. "That's Kay's voice! I hear her over the ocean all the time, that's her voice!"

He knew. And the few notes of Canon in D repeated over and over could only mean she knew he was there and that she was looking for him. The Deadbeat view shifted back to the other bird, catching a flash of yellow spectacles perched on the beak they'd overlooked. Yes, Mystery and Kay had come for them.

For a split second he considered hiding. If that really was Kay-and who was he kidding, of course it was-he wasn't ready to face her. There was no way he could know for sure she really would forgive him, and probably no way he could ever apologize deeply enough for what he'd done.

But Dulcie's fingers tightened on his lapel and immediately he rose skyward, putting them in plain sight. She would not spend one more second in this place, no matter what or who he had to face.

Both birds angled straight for him, the Deadbeats close on their tailfeathers. Mystery gave a glad cry, hailing Lewis with a flip of his tail. Kay flew straight past him, singing the same few notes.

"Follow her!" Mystery called. "She has our way out!"

Lewis turned, gliding after Kay as she headed for the Cage dome. Thorny branches uncurled from the dome as she approached, stabbing toward her, but she never flinched. She merely held up the thin, black rock in her claws and the branches shriveled and dropped off. One touch of the rock to the dome wall withered a hole large enough for all to pass through, which Lewis did with all speed.

As soon as he passed the boundaries of the Cage, the pressure of overwhelming life left him. He nearly dropped from the sky, his relief was so great, but Mystery clipped his skull with a wing. "Hold on a while longer, Lewis. The others have gone to face Demeter already. We are to join them as soon as we are able."

Dulcie shivered, but Kay circled in a little closer, soothing. "Don't worry, Dulcie. It's almost over. You'll be home before you know it."

Lewis' bones ached at the sound of her voice. He reached out a hand to her, but she snapped her wings, putting distance between them.

Mystery lighted on Lewis' shoulder, whispering, "Time, Lewis. She has not yet acknowledged her sister Aji or her mother in this time either. But for now, Arthur needs us. You are all witnesses against Demeter. We must hurry."