As the car came to a stop, Jupiter stared down at his phone. It was only a hour ago that he received a text from Thalia with an address and a single word: come. Jupiter tried to call, but he received no response. Any text back was just ignored, and his emotions swung like a pendulum. For one moment, he would be annoyed at Thalia. In the next, he would be worried about his daughter.
They spent the whole day before investigating the scene at Venus' news station. The security camera had been wiped, and someone cleaned up most of the blood. There was nothing to be done about the destroyed equipment, and it looked like two people had gone to war. Jupiter didn't know if Thalia was one of them, but since she was missing, he had a good feeling that she was.
"Any word?" Neptune asked. Jupiter slowly looked at him and shook his head. "I'm sure Thalia is safe. She probably followed a lead and didn't charge her phone."
"I can't take that chance," Jupiter stated. He studied the parking lot that they sat in. There was warehouses all around them and one single, standing office building. Jupiter knew this area well though. It use to be full of office buildings, but they were all bought out by the remaining office building. That building belonged to Pluto.
"The Titans have escaped Tartarus once again, and Pluto is missing as well. I cannot allow my daughter to be caught up in this. It was never suppose to be this way," Jupiter said. His eyes focused on the car in front of the office building: Thalia's car.
Jupiter opened the car door and stepped outside. He started to rush towards Thalia's car, but his eyes swept around. There was no one hiding in the shadows or on the rooftops. Thalia seemed like she was inside, but it all could have been a trap. Neptune followed behind Jupiter but left some space between them.
As Jupiter made it to the car, he heard a faint thumping noise, like someone was kicking the inside of the trunk. Jupiter grabbed his key ring and quickly found his copy of Thalia's car key. He slipped it in the car trunk and stepped to the side. Neptune nodded and grabbed his gun at his side. He aimed it at the trunk, and Jupiter opened the trunk.
Neptune instantly lowered his gun, and Jupiter stared down at the figure in the trunk. They wore a black jacket and had a black bag over their head. Their hands were tied behind their back, but he couldn't tell if it was Thalia or not. Neptune turned around and spoke, "I have your back."
Jupiter nodded and pulled the black bag off of the person's head. He stared down at the young girl. If it wasn't for the fact that he had watched her die in front of him, he wouldn't have recognized her. Jupiter spoke, "Reyna?"
The girl nodded. Tape was over her mouth, and her eyes were wide. There was a small bruises around her nose and temple. Jupiter spoke, "Did Thalia do this?"
Reyna shook her head, and her eyes moved over to the left. Jupiter followed the gaze and found himself staring at one of the warehouses. He pulled out his knife and cut the rope around the girl's wrists. How was Reyna alive? Jupiter saw the bullet enter and leave her skull. She had collapsed immediately and was dead.
Reyna slowly removed the tape from her mouth and winced in pain. With Neptune's help, Jupiter pulled Reyna out of the car. She stumbled and she gripped his arm tightly. Jupiter spoke, "Who did this to you?"
"You did," a voice answered. Jupiter quickly turned around and stood in front of Reyna. Neptune had turned as well and was aiming a gun at the person. Pluto studied them with cold eyes. He wore the mask that identified him as the monster Hades, but the rest of his outfit was different. There was no longer black ropes that seemed to flow around his body.
Instead, Pluto wore a bullet proof vest and a kevlar long sleeve shirt underneath. His black camouflage pants were the same that his security force wore. A gun was on his hip, but he made no move to grab it. In fact, he made no moves at all. All he did was stare at Jupiter.
"What are you doing here?" Jupiter demanded. Pluto nodded once, and something cold pressed against Jupiter's spine. He slowly turned his head and stared back at Reyna. The girl had a cold look in her eyes, and she held onto a gun that pressed into his spine.. "Was this all your plan, Pluto? Are you working with the Titans."
Neptune moved his gun to aim at Reyna, but Jupiter shook his head. Neptune seemed to understand and pointed the gun back at Pluto. Jupiter thought of lightning and slowly turned his hand towards the girl. He expected lightning to crackle and shoot out of his hand. Instead, nothing happened. His eyes widened as he remembered that Reyna could temporarily block someone's powers.
Neptune's eyes shot between Pluto and Jupiter. For once, he seemed to be restrained and in control of himself. Jupiter turned to look at Neptune, and something bright shined into his eye for a moment. He tried to trail the brightness but realized it was above him. A gun fired, and Jupiter tensed. He felt no pain, but he saw Neptune collapse a moment later.
Jupiter didn't care about the gun pressed to his back. He rushed to Neptune's side and stared down at him. There was a bullet hole right in the middle of Neptune's forehead. His lifeless eyes stared up at Jupiter. The only thing Jupiter could do was stare down at his brother.
A primal scream of anger left Jupiter, and he stood. He tried to summon lightning, but nothing happened. Jupiter charged at Pluto, but Pluto simply stepped to the side. Jupiter stumbled and turned. A fist slammed directly into his throat.
"Stop fighting," Pluto ordered. He pinned Jupiter to the ground. All Jupiter could do was stare up at his oldest brother. The three of them never knew their parents. They had grown up their entire lives in an orphanage and were always able to count on each other, until they split apart when they grew older. They would all meet back at Olympian Plains years later, and they would get their powers. Now, they were no longer a family.
"You killed him," Jupiter snapped. He tried to fight and look around for the sniper. Jupiter tried to summon lightning, but his anger didn't sustain him. He tried to struggle but was unable to. "I am going to kill you!"
"No. You are going to stand and walk into the warehouse to your right. Then, you will sit down in a chair and do everything else that I say. If you don't, I will kill Thalia," Pluto warned. Jupiter stared up at Pluto. "Understood?"
"Understood," Jupiter said. Pluto stood and took a few steps backwards. Jupiter sat up and stared down at Neptune. His eyes focused on the gun. He wanted nothing more than to lunge for the gun and fire at Pluto. He doubted that Reyna would be able to stop him, but the sniper probably still had eyes on him. At the moment, Jupiter did not care what happened to him, but he wouldn't let Thalia be hurt.
Jupiter slowly moved to Neptune's side. Reyna aimed her gun at him, but Pluto raised his hand. After a moment, Reyna lowered the gun. Jupiter stared down at Neptune and closed his dead brother's eyes. He took a deep breath and swallowed back his tears. Then, he stood and looked at the warehouse. Jupiter walked towards it.
"Did you brainwash the girl?" Jupiter asked. He glanced back at Reyna. The girl didn't have that cold look in her eyes anymore. She was pale and breathing a little heavy. Her hands were almost shaking. If Pluto noticed it, he didn't say a word. "Did you work with the Titans?"
"No," Pluto answered. "Kronos shot her in the head, so he could enact his plan in peace. He saved Reyna for her powers. He destroyed her life, so he could manipulate her."
"Where is Thalia?" Jupiter asked. Pluto didn't answer, and Jupiter turned towards him. "Where is my daughter!"
"Safe. For now," Pluto answered. Jupiter walked towards the door and glanced back. From the way that Neptune had fallen, his shooter was on the roof of the warehouse that they were standing by the entrance of. Reyna was staring at the gun and almost seemed to be having a mini panic attack. "Don't."
Jupiter froze. He had been planning on slamming into the girl and taking the gun from her, but Pluto seemed to realize that. Pluto spoke, "I will kill Thalia, if you lay a hand on Reyna. Do as I say."
Jupiter nodded and pushed open the door. He saw Pluto stop Reyna and whisper something to her. Reyna nodded quickly and backed out of the warehouse. Pluto closed the door and turned towards Jupiter.
"Do you see what the Titans have done to her?" Pluto asked. He walked past Jupiter and towards the middle of the room. Jupiter followed as well. The person he found in the middle of the filled warehouse was not the person he expected to see.
Kronos was on his knees, and a hand rested on his shoulders. Golden handcuffs were around his wrist, but his focus was only on his wife. Rhea was three feet from Kronos, and she was on her knees as well. Hecate's hand rested on her shoulder, and two of Hecate's fingers rested on her pulse, ready to snuff out her light at any moment.
"What is going on?" Jupiter demanded. He still couldn't summon his lightning. A hand rested on Jupiter's shoulder. "What do you want from us, brother."
"We made a mistake all of those years ago, and I am finally able to rectify that mistake," Pluto answered.
"You're nothing more than a coward," Kronos snapped. He tried to stand, but a cold grin from Hecate stopped him. Letus clasped both of his hands onto Kronos' shoulder. "You kidnapped my wife because you cannot face me!"
"Tearing through all of the Titans just to get to their leader would have brought forth too much attention. I knew a message from your wife would send you running here," Pluto said. "Especially since that message said Mnemosyne made an attempt on her life."
"But, I did not bring you here to gloat. I came to fix the sins of the past," Pluto said. Jupiter heard the door behind them open, and he slowly turned his head. Reyna closed the door behind her. The color was back to her face, and she wasn't shaking anymore.
"Can I?" Reyna asked, and she made it to their side. Pluto studied her for a long moment, but he nodded. Reyna slowly grabbed her gun from its holster and walked towards Kronos.
"Pluto, this is insane. You cannot allow a child to kill Kronos," Jupiter hissed. He looked at his brother, but Pluto spared him no attention. "You cannot let her become a murderer."
"If this is what she needs to do, I will not stand in her way," Pluto answered. He looked at Kronos. "You know how many people you have killed, hurt, and manipulated. I can only hope that you rot in the lowest circle of the inferno."
"Kronos has another trial scheduled soon. Let the people decide if he should die or not," Jupiter argued. Reyna slowly raised the gun and pressed it to Kronos' forehead. Kronos met her eyes and sneered. Reyna's finger rested on the trigger, but her hand soon started to shake once again.
Pluto let go of Jupiter and walked towards Reyna. He took the gun from the girl. Reyna closed her eyes and took a few steps backwards. Jupiter felt lightning building in his hands, and he saw Pluto tense. Pluto shoved Reyna backwards, and Jupiter shot his lightning. It caught Pluto square in the chest and threw him backwards.
Jupiter shot lightning at Hecate, and she dodged to the side. Kronos slammed the back of his head into Letus' groin, and Letus stumbled backwards in pain. Jupiter met Kronos' eyes for a moment, and they both looked at the gun that had fallen from Reyna's hands when she had been shoved down.
Reyna scrambled to grab the gun, but Rhea suddenly slammed into her and pinned her to the ground. Kronos grabbed the gun and smiled coldly. He met Rhea's eyes and nodded. Rhea shook her head.
"We will not hurt this girl anymore than we already have," Rhea said. She stood in front of Reyna. Jupiter move to look around the room. Letus was struggling to get to his hands and knees. Pluto wasn't moving, and Hecate was sitting on the ground and staring.
"Fine," Kronos said. He turned towards Letus and placed the gun to his head. "We'll just start with you."
Kronos suddenly yelled in pain and dropped the gun. He backed away with a knife buried in his hand. Letus lunged forward and grabbed Kronos by his throat. Kronos gasped, and Rhea rushed forward to help. Hecate intercepted her and locked her in a chokehold.
As Jupiter stepped forward, a cold hand rested on his neck. He slowly looked back at the near skeleton of a man. Charon studied him with cold eyes. A rifle rested on his back, and it was the same rifle that had ended Neptune's life.
Kronos yelled in pain and collapsed to his knees. Rhea reached out for her husband, but she cried out in pain as well. She fell to her her knees. Kronos gasped and scratched at Letus' hands. A strangled noise escaped him, and his hands fell. Kronos' eyes roll into the back of his head, and he went limp. Letus grabbed a knife from his belt and used it to slit Kronos' throat, which was overkill at that point. The villain was dead.
Rhea cried out and reached for her husband. She gasped and went limp. Hecate gently laid Rhea on the ground and grabbed her own knife. She slit Rhea's throat and whispered a few words. Letus stood and moved to Pluto's side. Another woman walked from the corner. Jupiter glared as he recognized Hylla.
Hylla made it to Reyna's side and pulled her to her feet. She held her sister close. Jupiter spoke, "I knew we could not trust you two. A villain can never change."
Pluto slowly made it to his feet and walked towards Jupiter. There was no emotions in his eyes. Jupiter just stared at his brother, and Pluto slowly grabbed his shoulder. Pluto spoke, "I do love you, brother. I will make sure your daughter and son are safe."
Jupiter remained silent and felt Pluto place a hand to his heart. Pluto closed his eyes, and Jupiter just stared. He couldn't die like this. His family and this city needed him. Jupiter started to raise his hand, but he heard a small pop. A gasp escaped him, and the world slowly dimmed. As Jupiter collapsed to his knees, Pluto caught him and placed a knife to his throat. Before Pluto brought the knife across Jupiter's throat, he spoke, "I love you, brother. This is just how it was always destined to end."