Hey guys. Long time no see. I've been working on this for a week now, and I'm happy to say that this chapter is finally complete! Hopefully I'll update a little more frequently now that school's out, but I can't promise anything, since writer's block is a bi—not nice person. But anyway, on to the chapter!
The scene in the cage quickly went from confusion to panic. The three mortals were all speaking over each other trying to get answers about what this meant. In any other situation, Logan and Mason would have found it comical. But right now, they had business to attend to.
"Alright! Enough!" Logan shouted. The three calmed down. "All this tells us is what we already knew: we need to stop Griffin."
"But what if we don't?" Carlos asked, earning twin slaps on the back of his head from Kendall and James.
"Then Griffin will basically rule over the entire world, mortal and immortal," Mason said, his voice indifferent despite the panic subtly showing on his face.
"Okay," James said. "So, uh…how do we stop him?"
"We wait," Mason said. Suddenly all eyes were on him, silently asking for an elaboration. "Well, think about it. He's going to need a lot of power just to get to the Overworld, let alone take it over." Logan nodded in understanding, while the mortals seemed no more enlightened than before, unsure of how that helped them. "We'll just wait until he gains access to the Overworld. The angels won't go down without a fight. He'll be vulnerable, and we can strike. Between us and the angels, he doesn't stand a chance."
"That…could work really well," Logan said. James and Carlos quickly voiced their agreement, but Kendall seemed lost in thought. "What do you think, Kendall," he asked.
"Well, it's good except for one little detail," he said. "We still have Cerberus to deal with."
Logan laughed. "Oh, don't worry about that. Griffin isn't the only one who can control him, you know."
"You mean you can control him too?" Carlos asked, his usual hyper excitement back full force.
"Well…no…" Carlos deflated. "Only two people other than Griffin can control him. Camille is one, but she's Griffin's assistant, so I don't think she'll help us. That leaves Rae."
"Who's Rae?" Kendall asked.
"And what does she look like?" James added.
Logan raised an eyebrow at James before turning back to Kendall. "Rae is the most cunning convert down here. Hell, probably even the most cunning of anyone down here."
"Okay. And she can control Cerberus?" Kendall asked.
Logan nodded. "It's Griffin's way of keeping her satisfied, and yet another way he keeps the rest of us in line."
"How?"
"Rae is a really good liar. If someone were to anger Griffin enough, he'd have Rae take them to Cerberus, and they wouldn't know until it was too late."
"But I thought you said Cerberus couldn't touch demons," James said.
"Not under Griffin, he can't. But Rae makes up her own rules. And one of them is that demons aren't safe from him. Griffin looks the other way with that."
"Wow," Kendall said, impressed. "Remind me to get some tips from her when this is all over." The group laughed, but it quickly died down. "Alright. So that's it, then? We're going to get Rae to help us?"
Mason and Logan shared a look. "We'll try," Logan said, grimacing. "Hard to say where her loyalties are."
Kendall sighed and nodded. "Well, at least it's something.
Logan and Mason found themselves flashing into and out of every last space in the Underworld. Having done this before, Logan felt irritated, suddenly wishing the Underworld was smaller. Mason, however, enjoyed it, seeing areas (and cute demons) he hadn't before.
The pair eventually found Rae in a long hallway. She was propped up against the wall, engrossed in a leather-bound book. Her black hair, although short, hid most of her face from view. As the two began moving toward her, she turned to them, the light of curiosity in her eyes contrasting sharply with the darkness of her complexion and the vague anger that painted the rest of her face. There was an aura about her that would intimidate most when they were around her, but Logan and Mason were both unfazed by it.
"What do you two want?" she spat, her face already showing agitation.
"We need your help with—"
"No."
Logan and Mason shared a look before turning back to her. "You don't even know what we were going to ask."
Rae sighed, closing her book. "You were going to ask me to help you with something. I don't help people. So my answer is no."
Logan sighed. "But we're desperate, and, to be honest, this is going to benefit you."
"How?" Rae asked, skepticism apparent in every detail of her face and voice.
"Well, I'm sure you enjoy living. Help us, and you can continue doing so," Mason said, almost patronizingly.
She scoffed. "What, you're going to kill me if I don't help you?"
"No," Logan said, "but if you don't help us, Griffin is going to get a lot more powerful than he already is, and you, me, and every other trace of human life will be gone."
Rae's expression didn't change. "Alright, I'm listening."
And they told her all they knew of what Griffin was doing. As they did, Rae's expression never changed from the skeptic, agitated boredom that seemed to constantly cover every last bit of her face.
When they finished, however, that expression melted into something similar to fear. "What do you need me to do?" she asked.
"Well, Griffin is going to use Cerberus to take down the angels. We were hoping you could keep that from happening somehow."
Rae paused, thinking. For a second, Logan and Mason were hopeful. "That's not going to happen," Rae said. When the two began to protest, she held up a finger to stop them. "Regardless of what I am able to do, Griffin has more power than I do. Even if he is weakened after he gets to the Overworld, it's not going to last forever. He's strong. He'll overpower me before I could do anything worthwhile. I'm sorry. I want to help you, but I can't."
Logan and Mason both sighed in defeat. "Alright."
The pair returned to the cages, and the mortals immediately ran to the edge of the cage, eager to hear Rae's response.
"She can't help us," Logan said, and he watched as his friends deflated, and he felt himself wanting to do the same.
"What do we do now?" Carlos asked, exasperation obvious in his voice.
Everyone turned to Mason, who seemed to be full of solutions. So when he shrugged and said he had no idea what to do, everyone groaned.
"That's it then. We're out of ideas, we have no hope…we should just give up. At least we can say we tried," James said.
"I agree with James," Carlos stated, having fallen on his back.
"Yeah, well I don't," Kendall said. "There has to be something."
Logan nodded. "I'm not giving up either."
"Same here," Mason said. "I'm sure we'll come up with something."
Then there was a flash, and gray smoke filled the room. "Hey," a voice called.
Everyone turned to find Rae suddenly in the room with them. Carlos raised his head to see her, and James perked up, suddenly intrigued.
"What's up, Rae?" Logan asked.
Rae smirked. "I think I figured something out. If I'm right, I'll be able to keep hold of Cerberus so Griffin can't use him."
Logan lit up. "Wait, so does this mean…?"
Rae's smirk grew into a full-blown smile. "Yes, it means I'll help you guys."