A/N: Okay, okay...no reveiws? Surely you can come up with an opinion.

And you better! This chapter is Part Uno out of Four for the last part of my story!

~~The Last Battle Part 1~~

(General POV)

Derec didn't care to fight. He didn't care to win. Frankly, he didn't even care to live. As far as he was concerned, there was no hope. No hope for Achyls, no hope for Logan, Polly, Brian and, most importantly, no hope for Jess. The calm before the battle was unbeareable. Hades seemed to be ignoring their very existence, as though the ginormous hole in the wall was solid as wood. Not a single skeleton broke the perimeter of our little camp, but instead stalked the edges nervously. Nearby, Persephone's garden lurked. The bending plants held on to their fat, glistening fruit as though the battle forbade us from taking some. Life for Derec was only a shadow of the past. Suddenly, a deafening roar lighted the corner of the Palace. Those who had weapons gripped them and stood to their feet...that is, all but Derec, who simply stood and guarded the place where Jess vanished in death. His face was pasty white, and his figure had begun to fade. The others...well, they had reason to fight. But Derec knew that they could hold off any army that dared cross them, so why fight? No reason anymore. So Derec simply surrendered himself to any force that might come to drain him. Which was, he realized, the darkness of the Underworld. His clothes were rotting away, moths eating the fabric as his spirit, his animus, was drained. Achlys lay in worry, sitting next to Logan. Nothing, Nothing would ever persuade her to leave his side. Brian and Polly sat next to each other on the black sand, discussing the events without saying a word. The roar died out into the dark. Hades stepped from the palace ruins, his black robes trailing behind him in reverent silence. He slowly progressed to his daughter, and spoke to her. She relaxed, and then he turned to address us.

"Children" he said. Everyone's heads snapped up, even Derec's.

"Lord Zeus has invited you to a meeting on Olympus." he said simply, then walked away. We slowly gathered our things and then headed out of the Underworld. Nobody noticed Derec dissolve slowly into a sheen of white dust exept Polly, who drew in her breath to hold the tears back, then kept on.

Why did this come out so depressing?

Sylvanna

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