Chapter 6: The Corruption of Caudus

As the two clashed, Caudus looked over to see a woman walking towards him. She was tall, with long brown hair that fell past her shoulders. She was wearing a pale blue dress that dragged on the ground a bit. But what was really abnormal about her were her eyes. They blue; a very deep blue that matched the color of the sea. She was looking at Caudus, her eyes locked on him, and he felt himself frozen in place.

"I am Proserpine," she said. "You must be the new Roman priest."

"I just, I, Uhhh, I'm, daaah, what?" Caudus stammered. Flamma smacked him over the back of the head.

Proserpine chuckled and closed her eyes. A bright aura appeared around her and Tails. The priest got a blank look in his eyes as the goddess took control of him. He groaned in pain and fell to the ground. Proserpine smirked.

"What did you do to him?" Flamma asked.

"I've taken control of your friend. He now works for me, unless you can find a way to stop it," she said, in a mocking way.

Caudus groaned and transformed into a hydra. It looked at its friends and roared.

"I got him! You take on Mars!" Flamma yelled at Ares, turning into a griffin and letting out a loud screech at the hydra.

The wolf nodded and lunged at Mars. However, the dragon breathed fire at it and singed its fur. Ares howled and attacked.

"You think you can stop me again?" Mars asked it.

"I don't think. I will!" Ares roared, pouncing on the dragon and biting its neck.

It roared loudly and breathed fire at the wolf, which dodged the blast and began to wound Mars. The dragon roared as it was wounded and growled at Ares. Meanwhile, the two Cerberus' were tumbling around, biting at every piece of flesh they could get a hold of. Hades, the black Cerberus, currently had a hold on the white Cerberus' underbelly. The white Cerberus roared as it tumbled and pounced on the other. Using its three heads, it began to wound Hades as he tried to get off of it.

"You can't kill me," he said. "I am immortal!"

The Cerberus growled as it snapped its jaws at Hades. I don't care. I can wound you! Then I'll send you to the depths of HELL! it responded, and Hades retaliated against its attacks. It howled and snarled, its three heads glaring at Hades angrily. Finally, Caudus and Flamma were flying around, snapping at each others wings. The hydra roared as it breathed fire at the griffin, which screeched as it dodged the blast. It glared at the hydra and the two creatures attacked. However,the hydra was too strong for the griffin. It roared and bit Flamma. The griffin screeched in pain as it fell to the ground wounded. Caudus roared and vanished, as did Mars, Hades and Proserpine.

"Caudus...help him," the griffin said to Ares, before passing out.

Ares growled as it became a dog again. It looked at the others and barked.

We need to find out what Mars is up to, it said.

"Is anyone else getting a weird sense of deja vu?" Articulos said. "Except it ended up being the only person who wasn't brainwashed last time, the one who was brainwashed?"

They all nodded. Ares growled and looked at Pandora. Any ideas? It asked her.

"We need to get Caudus back. We are not going to re-visit what happened 10 years ago. That was horrible," she said, with everyone agreeing.

"How can we get him back?" The avatar asked.

Pandora thought about it and looked at Flamma and Argentum. "You two can still fuse into a Chimera, right?" They nodded. "Well, with my help, if you can take him down in that form, we can remove Proserpine's influence over him. I'm not sure if it's a spell or a spirit of the underworld has possessed him, but either way, this is the only thing I can think of. Do you agree Ares?"

The dog nodded. I do, it said.

"Then let's get some rest and then engage this tomorrow. Now...how are we going to get Flamma back...Ares?" Pandora said, looking at the dog, who rolled its eyes.

The griffin will wake up eventually. It's a strong creature.

Pandora and the others nodded, looking at the griffin. The Guardian looked at her body and saw that it was becoming transparent, then vanished back into Pandora's Box. She couldn't stay in her physical form for very long and had to be confined in the box.

"I wonder...if Pandora could bring down her defenses about people taking the box out of the temple, could we carry it around and she could stay out of it longer?" Articulos asked.

Ares shook its head. That won't work. She is tied to the box because she is the guardian, so only she can carry it.

"Darn. Well let's go home, and for heaven's sake, let's move the griffon before they get back," Argentum said.

The dog nodded. It walked over to the griffin, sniffing it, and closed its eyes, lifting the creature with telekinesis. It won't change back for a while, Ares said as it looked at its friends. The griffin will have to heal first.

"Can we just go home? I don't want to deal with another attack in case they come back," Articulos said, turning into a dragon.

Go on. I will join you soon. The griffin will be in a cave not far from here.

The others nodded and left. Ares looked around, then closed its eyes. There was a bright flash of light, and Athena, the goddess of wisdom, stood before it.