I apologize for being away from this story for so long. I've been working on a Once Upon and Time story, along with a story on FictionPress, but I am back and so is my muse!

So the title of the chapter doesn't come into play until the end of the chapter, but I'm trying.

Enjoy! Review! Etcetera!

Twins Snuff Out (Veon and Zy's) Breath

Who (All Hold) The Key to Endless Death


First Person: Lucy

I walked through the streets of Rome, in a bit of a daze. Summoning that Curse to assist Annabeth took a lot out of me, but I was properly sustaining her, and she was able to talk, touch, and move of her own volition. I quickly realized that I had no idea where I was, or where we'd parked the Argo II. Maybe, if I focused, I'd be able to figure it out, but right now, I was just walking in whatever direction that my legs took me.

"Onesan?"

"Kaze?" I suddenly found my brother standing beside me. "You ran away from the ship, didn't you?" He shrugged.

"Maybe?" He examined me. "Hey, are you okay?" He took my hand and led me into an alley between buildings, where there weren't any people around.

"Just a bit tired. Training to maintain and sustain some duplicates. If I can master this technique, I'll be able to help assist Camp Half-Blood."

"Camp-u Have-e Blood-a?" Kaze tried to say in English.

"Yep. That camp for demigods, remember? Might be your home some day. It might be a good home for all the demigods back at the wards. Right now, it's at risk of being destroyed by Gaea."

"Gaea?" He repeated. "Are…are you sure?"

"Yes, Kaze-kun. She wishes to destroy us all, wants to destroy the few homes that are left to demigods like us. She is not an ally."

"That's what she said about your friends! Maybe…maybe this is all just some big misunderstanding!"

"Kaze, this isn't a misunderstanding. She's evil!"

"So is the goddess you think so highly of! You want me to give up on Mother?! Then you give up on her!"

"Zyanya is a good person, someone who's in trouble and needs my help-!"

"So is Mother! She's been beaten down again and again, her children destroyed and condemned, and all she wants is freedom! To be allowed to be herself, to do what she wants without someone constantly trying to kill her! She wants her children to roam the world without worrying about the stupid gods and their children killing them just because they're different! She's offered the other demigods chances to live with her, but they've all refused and shoved her kindness in her face! And those who understand and do want to help her are struck down because of it! It's unfair! It's evil!"

"When she offers her "hospitality," she asks them to do horrible things! Killing their friends or leaving them to burn! Tricking someone close to them, destroying someone in cruel and vicious ways! She wants you to have no mercy in your heart, and only then does she allow you to join her! Anyone she offers to join her has to become heartless, cold-blooded killers before they can do so!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Kaze. Defending. Gaea. Saying things as though Gaea's the innocent one, as though the giants and all the other monsters are just the kids who are always getting bullied in school. They were a far cry from that. They were the bullies! They destroyed their way to the top and reveled in it! They wanted the world to burn! Yet when I voiced these things to Kaze, he didn't listen, he didn't understand.

"Your goddess just wants you to give up your life for hers! She doesn't care if you die, she doesn't care if you suffer! She's only thinking about herself, and you don't mean a thing to her! At least Mother cares for me and all her other children! She saved me when you killed me! You betrayed me and then left me to die! I still remember when you punched me as I begged for mercy! I remember how you held me down and choked me until I nearly passed out, and then you cast that spell on me, making my insides boil and melt as I was screaming for my life! I remembered all the pain that I'd ever felt all at once, I remembered when my real sister died screaming for the Hermes and he didn't come for her!"

"She wasn't your sister, she was your mother! She was stupid and got pregnant as a teenager, as an orphan on the run! She was stupid and didn't try and fix her life once you'd been born! It's her fault she died and you were left alone, not Hermes'! No, wait, it was your fault, wasn't it?! The moment she was pregnant with you, he left!" I didn't know where the words were coming from. I'd never thought these thoughts before in my life, but at the moment, my mouth wouldn't stop, and the tide of anger flooded out. "You could've run from that orphanage any time you wanted to! You could've survived on your own! But really, you were afraid of being alone, huh?! You couldn't handle the thought of being without your precious mother! When I came along, you just wanted someone to fill the hole in your heart! You just wanted to have someone there for you in her place because you're a big baby who can't handle himself in the dark without mommy and daddy there to hold his hand! Now that you've got a "mother," who cares if she kills everyone else?! As long as she bats her eyes and holds your hand, you don't give a damn what she makes you do! You'll believe every little thing she tells you! You'll believe she's the one who's being wronged as she slaughters innocents, and then makes you do the same!"

"She is the one being wronged! She's the only family that's ever cared for me, since you never really did! You just wanted to nurture me so that I trusted you when you killed me, tore my very soul apart while you sat and watched without a hint of mercy within you!"

"I hate you!"

"I hate you!"

In an instant, Kaze was gone. He'd run away so fast, he'd kicked up a trail of dust in his wake. I fell against the wall of the building and slid to the ground, leaning against it. I didn't mean a word of it. Why the hell did I say all those harsh things? Where did all that anger come from? Where did the words I had said come from? I'd never thought those things in my life, never even considered them.

He still remembered that day. He remembered every detail about the night I killed him. He remembers how I beat him up even as he screamed for me to stop. He remembers when I choked him with my bare hands before finally enacting the trials on him. He…he said it felt like his insides were boiling as he screamed. And…then he remembered the worst moments of his life. He felt all the pain he'd ever felt before, physically and mentally, all at once. He remembered his own mother's death.

And I…I had told him she was his mother. I'd told him he was the reason Hermes left him…! I told him he was a helpless little kid. Now he firmly believes that I never cared for him. He has no doubt now that I'd only ever cared for him so that it would hurt more when I betrayed him. Now he hates me. I'd just thrown away the only family I had left.

I sobbed so hard that I could barely breathe. My hands tingled at the unwanted memories of that night I'd first killed my brother. The pain in my chest built up, and I needed to feel something, anything else. But my knife was still in my room on the Argo II. The knife Kaze had given me. Why did I even use his knife of all things anyway? Why was his present the only thing that ever relieved the pain? I'd tried using other things, but only his knife was ever effective.

Maybe it was because it somehow felt as though Kaze was getting his revenge, that Kaze was the one punishing me for what I had done to him. Maybe I wanted him to deliver some kind of penance, give me what I deserve for hurting him like I had. Like I just did. Would that make the pain go away? Would it make the guilt that's been weighing me down lighten if I got Kaze's, someone's, retribution? I'd take anything to make things right, to make this pain in my chest go away.

I was so confused. There were parts of me that just wanted everything to stop, do just give up and stop swimming against the current when all it was doing was causing me pain, when my goal was nowhere in sight, and the weight of so much was on my shoulders. So much hurt, and I felt so confused on what I wanted to do, why I was doing it, and what the way out was. I couldn't do anything, I was so lost, so helpless. Yet I keep going, when all I face is sorrow and no light at the end of the tunnel. Why?

"Shh, love. You shouldn't feel as though you're helpless."

The voice was distorted, as though they were talking through an echo chamber. It was foreign, but at the same time, so familiar. I looked around, trying to blink the tears away so that I could see properly.

"Mom?" I asked, but it only came out a whisper.

"You are not helpless. You are not weak. There is light at the end of the tunnel. You just need to open your eyes to see it."

"Where are you?" I looked around desperately. I wanted my mother. I wanted my father. I wanted someone to hold my hand right now, to hug me and make the world go away. It had been so long since I'd been embraced like that, so long since I'd allowed myself to be the protected instead of the protector. I was so tired, hurting so much, and for the first time in a long time, I realized I wanted someone to help me instead of trying to handle it all myself.

In front of me, a ghost appeared, dressed in all white, her skin glowing ivory against her white attire. Her hair contrasted the rest of her, midnight black locks draping over her shoulders, framing a face with almond eyes, perfect, elegant features, and a soft expression. Her ethereal beauty surprised me not only because I knew that she was a goddess, but because she looked like me.

"Zy…Zyanya…?" I stuttered. Zyanya's mental image of me dressed in white and did have a goddess-like feel to her, but she had never made me look so…celestial. She shook her head with a small smile.

"No, Rei." I was afraid to ask, but I forced the one word out.

"…mom…?" When she said nothing and merely sighed, her smile growing, I found myself sobbing once more. I moved forward to hug her, to embrace my mother as I'd wanted to all my life, and she opened her arms to wrap them around me too. Yet the moment I gripped her, she faded, leaving nothing but smoke in her wake, and leaving me still needing someone to hold me, now more than ever.

I let my momentum carry me to the ground, as I was surrounded by the mist that was once my mother. It caressed my skin gently, as though she was trying her hardest to embrace me but just couldn't. When I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine she was there, grasping me for real.

"Zy? Are you okay?" I looked up to see Ve, walking up to me quickly and kneeling down in front of me. "Hey, what's wrong?" Without answering, I grabbed him into a tight hug, needing to feel someone solid to grip.

"I fought with Kaze…" I managed.

"Oh." He finally got over his initial shock and wrapped his arms around me as well. I never thought that it'd feel so calming to hug someone, and to have them hug me back. "Do you mind telling me…what happened?"

"I started yelling at him how he shouldn't be loyal to Gaea and whatnot, and then he…he started defending her! It just got me so angry and…I said some stupid things, and now he hates me."

"Defending Gaea?" He asked.

"Oh, right. Did I mention that she's apparently his step-mom? He came to the Argo II to look after me, apparently protecting me from you guys." I explained the argument we'd had, what Kaze had said about Gaea, and then eventually where the argument had led to.

"You know he didn't mean it. Just because you couldn't protect him didn't mean you killed him." I was confused for a moment before remembering that I hadn't told Veon the truth. Lies and truth are hard to keep track of sometimes.

"But he still died. And…I told him the truth about his sister. The woman he thought was his original sister was actually his mother. She was a teenager when she had him. Apparently, he remembers her dying and begging Hermes for help, but he couldn't because of Zeus forbidding him or something. I…oh, gods. I blamed him for making Hermes leave him and his mother. I said that his birth was the reason Hermes had left…he's never gonna forgive me. I'm never gonna forgive myself!"

"Hey, this is not your fault. You were both angry. You care for each other so much that you'd do anything to protect each other and get angry over small things. You're both just conflicting on what's the real threat between the two of you. In the end, you love each other more than anything in the world, and you're both just afraid of losing each other. Kaze must feel just as terrible as you about what was said, and he wishes your argument never happened too. You'll make up. He's your brother."

"Well, I…I guess."

"Right. Now, let's go find him. I'll be with you the whole way, if you want."

"No, I…I have to talk to him alone."

"Well…if you say so. But I'll be in the next room if he decides to try and bolt or hurt you. You said he was working for Gaea, right? What if this argument turns his heart in the wrong direction?"

"I honestly can't say. But there's only one way to find out. And I need to talk to him one way or another." He nodded.

"Then let's go."

"Hey, Veon?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you." He smiled and quickly kissed me.

"Anytime." He looked down, his smiling fading just slightly. "Hey, where'd you get that?" He asked. I looked down to where he was staring and saw an oval-shaped white gem hanging from a leather strap at my chest. Reaching to take it in my hand, I felt a warmth within it, making me feel safer than I'd felt in a long time.

"It's from my mom…" I said, though I couldn't be sure if I said it very loud. Veon's face looked grim, and I remember that it had been in that dream where Zyanya had…

"We should go look for your brother."

"Wait, what about your brother?! Nico's out there somewhere, and we only have today to find him! Kaze can wait just a little longer. Right now, we need to find Nico."

"But-"

"Kaze will be okay, and he's probably gone somewhere where he won't be found, anyway. You were there for me, but he needs more time to cool down. And right now, Nico is literally dying in a bronze jar. It's imperative that we find him as soon as possible and rescue him." Veon looked ready to protest further, but then hesitated.

"If you're absolutely sure…then okay."

"Right. I think I might be able to find him using this new power of mine. Whatever it is, it's able to break barriers that we'd never be able to pass before." I took his hand and then focused on my power as our interlocked fingers began to glow with my green energy. It spread up his arm and then his torso until he was completely covered in the glowing, misty energy. "Now, concentrate on Nico's location. This should enhance your shadow-traveling ability. He's in a bronze jar, which must be purposeful to keep you from instantly teleporting to him or making the rescue easy, but this should help bypass that."

"Okay." He nodded and closed his eyes, concentrating. I felt the shadows wrap around and take us away. I held on to Veon tightly, as the shadow-traveling was still a bit dizzying, even for me, before we came out of the shadows inside of a dark place. The air was poisonous, and the only thing protecting us was my Curse power's aura around us.

"Nico!" Veon hurried over to his brother, who was on his last pomegranate seed. "We need to get him out of here."

"Agreed." He moved both of his hands to grab Nico, but the moment he let go of my hand, my aura left him and he suddenly couldn't breathe. He choked at first, and then began coughing and keeling over as he inhaled the poisonous air.

"Veon!" I quickly reached to grab his shoulder, but my aura faded over me as well, seemingly canceling the initial spell of protection once Veon had let go, as its main purpose was to enhance Veon's power. My lungs began to burn, and as I tried to breathe, that only made it worse. The two of us were left coughing our lungs out beside Nico, our attempt at rescuing him going horribly wrong in mere moments.

In an act of desperation, Veon began to punch the walls of the bronze jar with the little strength he had left, but it wasn't long before he slumped against the wall, on the verge of passing out. I grabbed his hand, spots dancing across my vision and then grabbed Nico's hand, hoping to make some kind of protection for us. If I could get a layer of magic over all three of us that allowed us to breathe, then Nico would be given more time than his pomegranate seed would hold out for. Quite possibly, the giants might have other ways to kill us even if I managed to get us an aura for breathing, but at the least, it would buy us some time.

I focused all my power on preserving the three of us, just before my vision went black.