A.N: I am so sorry for how late this chapter is. I've been completely swamped with worked and it's taken me 5 sittings just to finish this. Not to mention I've been a popular girl today. The Captain sent me her story to beta first, then sent me back mine to check and another writer had sent me her story to edit as well. Popular me! So once again, super amounts of apologies and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

To ImSoCooliPissIceCubes: Man your name is long! Thank you for reading! But don't forget that sleep is important too, especially if you have work early. This story will always be here so take you time dude! Thanks again!

To addictedgeek: I always to enjoy seeing your name in the reviews, hope you did wait too long for this chapter =]

To willaw: Ack, I'm dreading to write the final showdown, I feel like I'll have built up all this tension and expectation, only to fail at the very end! Terri will still remain a mystery for a little while, I've got more to write with Terri's new found coldness to everyone. Bleh, I haven't seen the new episodes because of work, though people tell me what happen and I'm super sad about what's happening with Callie/Arizona and Owen/Cristina now. Very sad!

To Jessica Torres-Robbins: I hope you don't hate Athena for too long, there is a reason for everything. I mean Aria and Lexie were the only ones to stand by her before, so you'd understand why Terri is wary and cold to everyone but them for now right?

And finally to the Guest who asked me to update: I hope I'm not too late? I'm glad curiosity doesn't kill, otherwise I'd be dead ten times over, especially when it comes to reading the Captain's story and some other stories on the site. Everyone is so talented at creating amazing stories, and I'm honoured to be a part of that, and that ya'll are taking the time to read mine. Thanks!

Beta'd by none other than 2damnpretty2die. Captain, where would I be without you?

Chapter 26: I Need You

Arizona p.o.v

I walked back in a daze. I couldn't believe what had just happened. Had Terri really claimed me? Was our relationship so broken down that she could no longer see me as an equal? But more importantly, why the hell did she feel so cold, so uncaring, and so… so scary? I have never been afraid of Terri, but when we were on the roof, I could feel my body subconsciously shaking and tensing, in the way it usually would when it was preparing itself for battle. Why would I react like that around Terri?

I was broken out of my thoughts by frantic shouts of my name and looked up to see that I had somehow made my way back to Calliope and my friends. My attention immediately zero'd in onto Calliope, who was still lying weakly in Mark's arms on the floor, and I ran over to her instantly.

"Calliope! Are you okay? What happened?" I reached out for her, only to be smacked away by an enraged Lucia Torres.

"Why don't you tell me, Artemis? What did you do?" She demanded.

"W-what are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about this!" She pulled away Calliope's top to reveal the still glowing mark on her chest. My mark was expected, but the presence of another one caught me off guard.

"T-that's-"

"The mark of the Crown, yes." Lucia answered, "So I repeat, what did you do?"

"I-I didn't know. How?" I stuttered, still in shock.

"You didn't know you'd been marked?" Addison asked incredulously.

"What? No! I know that, but I didn't know Calliope would be…" I stared at her guiltily, "I'm sorry, Calliope. I didn't know."

"It's okay Ari." Calliope soothed in a weak and fragile voice, making me feel even worse.

"She's your mate, whatever happens to you, happens to her. How could you forget that?" Lucia accused.

"I didn't forget!" I shouted, "But there was nothing else I could've done at that moment. I needed Terri to let me fight"

"So you got yourself a master, to be ordered into fighting, to be used and then disposed of whenever she wants to be a tool for her?" Addison spat. The rage that consumed me was so sudden and unexpected, I couldn't control it, and before I knew it I had grabbed Addison by the throat and lifted her up.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that!" I growled. "I didn't want this. What I wanted was to be by the side of my best friend, to fight by her side, to try and make up for all the sacrifices she made for me, for us. And if the only way she's willing to let me do that is by claiming me, then so be it. But I'll be damned if you ever suggest that she's going to 'use and dispose' me."

"Arizona!" Teddy appeared by my side instantly and grabbed my shoulder. "Calm down, she didn't mean it like that. She's just protective of Callie." I was blinded by rage and shrugged Teddy off, growling and tightening my hand around Addison's throat.

"Ari…" Calliope's gentle voice cut through my haze and when my vision cleared, I was horrified by what I was doing. I let go immediately and backed away, guilt and shame written all over my face as Teddy held on Addison who was sending me glares of disbelief and shock.

"I-I'm sorry." What was happening to me? Her gaze softened and she cleared her throat.

"It's okay. I'm sorry for what I said. You know, like Teddy said. I'm just protective of Callie, and when she suddenly dropped and screamed, I was just worried."

The guilt multiplied tenfold and I felt like I was drowning. I couldn't make eye contact with anyone, and I didn't even notice Calliope approach me until her hand made contact with my cheek.

"Ari, it's okay. I'm okay. I was just shocked, but I'm okay." Her voice was so gentle and forgiving, and I could feel myself becoming calmer with her so close to me.

I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything, a presence nearby alerted me and I could see my friends tensing in restrained anger.

"I'm glad you're all together. It makes this so much easier." The cold voice was unwelcoming and I tensed under Calliope's hand.

Terri…

"What do you want?" Addison growled out, and Terri just raised a brow in amusement as Clio stepped forward. Terri waved her off and approached us with Aria and Lexie in tow.

"Mnemosyne, is this how you train your pets? They are so rude and uncouth; you better correct them before anyone catches them."

"We are not pets!" Addison huffed out, clearly offended, as she stepped forward angrily. A raised sword pointed at her by, to my shock, Lexie, halted her immediately.

"Stand down." Lexie's cold and commanding voice caught us all off guard and Addison froze instantly.

"Come on, we're all friends here. Lexie, drop your sword." Aria's soft voice broke through the silence. Lexie stared silently at Addison for moments before finally complying, and dropping her hand, sword disappearing. Aria smiled in gratitude before turning to address us. "We're here because you need to train. Hades will only get stronger and you've all been slacking off in the last 6 months."

There was silence amongst us as she recalled why we had been inactive for the past few months.

"So, Teddy, Addison, Mark and Alex will be training with Thalia and Clio. Callie, you're with me. Tim, Arizona, you'll be training with Lexie."

"Wait, what?" Mark asked, horrified that Lexie would be training Tim and I. "You're kidding right?"

"You heard me, Mark. Lexie will be training Tim and Arizona." Aria replied, amused. "And before you make any more pointless statements, let's just show you what we mean on the training grounds."

General p.o.v

Lexie stood calmly, with an intense cold aura pouring off of her in waves as she regarded her opponents. Addison stood perplexed at the situation, as Alex stared on in thought; Mark was apprehensive, not wanting to attack Lexie, whereas Teddy was just plain confused and lost. No one made a move, staring at each other unmoving as Terri and Aria watched on amused.

"They're not going to attack?" Aria whispered to Terri.

"They're scared." Was the simple reply, Terri's eyes never leaving Lexie.

"But it's Lexie, why would they be scared?"

"They are scared because it's Lexie." Aria tilted her head in confusion drawing a sigh from Terri. "They care about her, and they still think she's the weak and hesitant fighter from when she was first sired."

"Oh. Well, I guess they're gonna be in for a shock huh?" Terri was silent, but Aria could tell from her silence and her gaze, that she was proud of Lexie's growth and she made a quick decision. "Hey, can I join?"

Though her head never moved, Terri's eyes glanced to her right briefly, at Aria, before flicking back to the scene before them. "Why?"

"Come on, I wanna fight." Aria whined, displeased by her answer.

"It's unnecessary for you to fight, not now anyway. This is about Lexie."

"But I'm bored!" Hoping for some response, she reached out to slowly stroke Terri's arm, drawing her attention, and when their eyes finally met, she pouted and dipped her head shyly, "please?"

Terri's smirk was her answer, and she grinned widely, pumping her arm for extra effect. "Yes! Love you babe!" She dropped a kiss onto Terri's still smirking lips and bounced off to the still unmoving group.

"Aria, what are you doing?" Callie exclaimed, shocked by her sister's calm and playful approach towards the tense atmosphere that had now surrounded the group.

"Joining in, I can't let Lexie have all the fun," she jovially replied.

"What? No! Are you insane?" Callie stepped forward, but was halted by Arizona.

"Calliope, I don't think you want to do that?"

"What are you talking about? That's my sister Ari, and she's being stupid."

"I mean, Aria isn't just your sister anymore. She's the Bride the Crown. She's Athena's mate." Arizona replied calmly, hoping to talk Callie out of her panic.

"But-"

"Artemis is right Calliope. She's more powerful than you could imagine." Lucia added.

Callie deflated with a huff. "Fine. Whatever, but if anything happens, I'm getting involved with or without your help Ari."

Arizona shook her head at her antics, pressing her lips against her cheek. "Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less."

Callie smiled in return, happy with the response, but her grin quickly disappeared seeing Aria's blatant provoking towards their friends.

"Gosh, you guys really didn't understand the purpose of this little scrimmage did you?" Aria quipped as she stopped between Lexie and the others.

"Get out of here Aria, I don't want you to get hurt!" demanded Mark, and Aria raised a brow at him.

"You think you can hurt me?" she scoffed, "you're kidding right?"

"Aria…" Addison let out a warning growl, to which Aria completely ignored and let her playful persona drop completely.

"Do not order me around pet!" She hissed at her sister's best friends, "If you want to stay around, then you need to prove your worth."

They all gasped at her statement, excluding Lexie who had kept her cold eyes on her opponents and Terri who had remained emotionless at the exchange.

"Aria" Terri warned, not wanting her overconfidence and purposely provoking of the others to distract her from any surprise attacks.

Aria narrowed her eyes at Mark and Addison before turning her cold eyes to Lexie.

"The first attack is yours, Chief Tactician." Lexie smirked and disappeared at Aria's command. "Go!"

She reappeared just as quickly behind Addison and before anyone could react, she let out a small bolt of energy that sent her flying forward, past Aria, and into the ground.

Mark, Teddy and Alex leapt backwards at her presence and took up defensive stances.

"Addie!" Teddy called out in concern.

"I'm okay," she replied, coughing slightly as she staggered back to her unsteady feet, "just caught me off guard is all." She glared at Lexie before taking up her own stance and Aria chuckled.

"You were caught off guard even though I had already let you know that she was going to attack? Do you think Hades is going to be so lenient and just use such a weak little attack?" She trained her eyes on each of them. "If this was a real battle, Addison would be dead right now."

Alex was the first to recover from the shock and launched his own attack, sending bolts of lightning at Lexie, who swiftly evaded and deflect his attacks with one hand, angering him. He let out a powerful roar just as Teddy joined in the fray with her own attacks of fire and charged, using her attacks as distraction. He shimmered out of sight and reappeared behind Lexie, and just as he was about to attack, she disappeared and he was hit by a powerful ball of fire.

"Watch it Altman!" he growled.

"Maybe you should be more aware of what's going on around you Karev!" She shot back.

Any further conversation was cut short as Lexie sent out two quick bolts of energy and launched them into the ground, sending debris everywhere.

Addison emerged from the dust unexpectedly and sent a high kick to her head, which was easily blocked by Lexie's arm. She let out a quick succession of jabs, punches and kicks that were all blocked, before jumping back and sending a strong bolt of energy, which hit Lexie head on.

She landed, panting slightly, and let out a victorious smirk that was quickly wiped away when she felt a presence behind her. But it was far too late as Lexie had already sent a roundhouse kick that knocked her off balance and then pushed her palm into her stomach, releasing a bolt of lightning directly into her body.

Mark appeared behind Lexie and before she could react, had his arms wrapped around her in a tight hold. "Stop it Lex! Are you trying to kill our friends?"

Lexie struggled, but was unable to get out of his strong hold, so she relaxed slightly, drawing Mark's curiosity, before she was overcome with a strong red aura and a powerful wave of energy expelled from her body, sending Mark flying.

"Jesus, is this still the same timid Little Grey from SGMW?" Callie asked, completely amazed by the sight before her. When she received no reply, she turned to look at Arizona who was captivated by the sight, but she could see the conflicting emotions swirling beneath. "Ari?" She reached out for her arm and was confused when Arizona flinched at the touch.

"Baby? Talk to me." She urged. There was a brief pause, in which she though Arizona hadn't heard her, but the deep sigh from the blonde told otherwise.

"It's just…" she started.

"Just what?" Arizona turned and made eye contact with Callie, guilt written all over her face.

"Lexie hates fighting. And now…" Arizona trailed off as she turned back to the sparring group. "Now, she's a fully-fledged warrior."

"What do you mean by that?" Callie asked curiously.

"I mean, there's absolutely no hesitation in her attacks, each attack is carefully calculated. Her attacks aren't made to cause damage, but to purely inflict pain. The pain would slow you down; it would distract you, and it isn't necessarily external injuries either. Her attacks are meant to create internal havoc." Callie's eyes widened as Arizona explained. "It's ridiculous, the precision of the attacks, it's all carefully planned out, just a split second before she makes the attack."

"W-where would she have learned something like that?" Callie asked horrified by the approach Lexie had taken.

"It's the same fighting style at Athena." Lucia answered. "Athena is smart, she's observant and a master of strategy. When she was younger and was forced into training with the Generals, she sustained so much damage, whereas they walked away without a scratch. Or so it would seem that way anyway."

"She recovered after a feed, all her wounds and bruises healed right up, but the Generals? They were unable to function properly, not even after a full feed, and it didn't make any sense." Arizona continued. "At first, they didn't believe that it had anything to do with the sparring with Terri, but after an intense battle that went underway and lasted about 6 hours in the forest, Terri recovered by the end of the day. But the Generals were knocked-out and sent to the healers, and they were absolutely horrified by the amount of internal damage they had; damage that wasn't only caused by that training session; it was older and hadn't received the proper care. The Generals were unaware of the internal damage and had continued with their daily routines, further irritating the injuries."

"It was only then that we discovered the genius, yet horrific style Athena fights in." Lucia added, eyes clouding over as if reliving the memories, "In a battle, external injuries can be overcome with feeding, or you use your own healing powers to begin tending to the wounds as you continue. However with the internal ones? You are not always aware of them and by the time you do, it's already too late. But not just that, Athena would create injuries onto the muscles, joints, and the nervous system, so by the time you do realise what's happened, you're already too weak to defend.

If you tried to stop and heal the internal injuries, then Athena would have plenty of time to create enough external damage to incapacitate you, and if you tried to ignore the internal injuries, then eventually your body would give out on you without being able to control it. Either way, you lose. Athena's fighting style is to permanently take you out of the game."

Callie stared on horrified at the sadistic torture Terri would inflict, "b-but… That doesn't make sense! I-I mean, what about her fight with Hades?"

"Calliope," Lucia began softly, "Do you remember the time when Athena confronted Hades alone and came back completely unscathed?" Callie nodded wordlessly; the painful and inhumane screams would haunt her forever. "Those screams were not from any external injuries. It was purely an attack on the internal system. She was basically setting his nervous system on fire and tearing apart his muscles from the inside out. When her power hits you, you'd expected it to be an external attack and you automatically set up a barrier to protect anything from entering or exiting, unfortunately that also means you lock her attack in, securing the fact that the attack is unable to escape."

"Being a surgeon, it means that Terri has a thorough understanding of what would hurt the most and how to inflict it in a way so you would feel every second of it." Arizona added darkly. "And now, it would seem that Lexie has somehow picked up that style."

"She's called the 'Chief Tactician' for a reason." A deep voice interrupted, and they turned to see Tim. "Lexie is special to Terri because of how observant she is. Her photographic memory is also a bonus, which means she can replicate an attack almost exactly, and it only makes sense for her to pick up the most efficient and 'energy-saving' style. It means she spends less time in actual fighting and more time planning. But if you were to doubt her power, she could take you down and you wouldn't even know how or why."

"I guess it does make sense." Callie agreed.

"It doesn't make it okay!" Arizona growled, "Calliope, do you know why this style was created?" Callie shook her head. "It was created as a means of torture, to inflict as much pain on a person as possible without ever leaving a mark. It was the signature of the perfect interrogator. A skill only the most experienced and powerful vampire could ever manage. It is such a fine line between torturing someone and breaking them completely, go too far and the person dies or you risk the chance of overload and the person explodes. If you aren't in perfect control, then the attacks go haywire and the injuries all show up on the victim." Callie nodded, but still didn't quite grasp why Arizona was so worked up.

"Calliope, it was a fucking game they created! To see how powerful one was, they would test on strays and humans to see how far they could get to the point of no return, to see how far their own control went. It was a sick and sadistic game they created! Terri somehow picked it up and now Lexie has too!" she screamed, frustration evident in her voice.

"Terri had once promised us to stop using this method, once Ari had expressed her horror and disgust at it." Tim added softly, trying to soothe his sister's anger. "And more importantly, she had promised to stop this method from existing outside of very extreme cases, even during interrogations. She had promised that unless they were out of options and it was the very last choice, this cruel way of fighting would never be brought to light ever again."

"She broke a promise to you." Callie said in realization. She knew that Terri was very loyal to her words, and to her family, so this was a blatant disregard of Arizona and Tim. It was a show of Terri's change since her revival.

"It's not just that." Tim said quietly, "This method isn't just about physical attacks, it's the mental ones too. To mentally and emotionally break someone down until submission is no longer a choice, but a necessity.

Callie gasped as she finally understood what was really happening. "Arizona…" Her heart broke at the despair in her eyes.

"Terri broke that promise when she forced Arizona to pledge. Arizona didn't have the choice of not submitting, she had to."

"You're wrong you know?" Another voice shocked them, and they tensed in preparation to attack until the familiar aura drifted into their senses.

"Elizabeth." Lucia acknowledged.

"Terri was the one who didn't have a choice. She didn't break anything. Athena was the one to do it. She's the one who uses this method of fighting. Terri had adapted to a purely physical way of fighting." She continued.

"What does that mean?" Arizona spat out angrily, but Elizabeth only gave them a sad smile, focusing her attention on the group in front.

Mark, Addison, Alex and Teddy stood bent over panting and sweating. They barely had any physical wounds, but they could feel their bodies slowing down and their reaction times faltering. It didn't make any sense to them as they could feel their energy levels still pretty high, but they were exhausted, in pain and just wanted to keel over and die. Lexie, on the other hand, had not even broken a sweat and had remained emotionless throughout the entire exchange.

"Are you done already?" Aria's joyful voice broke them out of their musings and they cursed under their breaths.

"I thought you wanted to join Aria?" Terri's amused voice cut in.

"Oh Baby," she drawled, "Lexie seems to have things under control, and they're already at a disadvantage." She gestured to the panting and sweating messes, "it wouldn't be very nice to further their humiliation, I mean we don't want to break them completely now do we?" she smirked.

That did it. Alex and Teddy let out powerful roars as their aura shot up, releasing their seals and charging forward. Lexie shifted in preparation for their attack, but was caught off guard when Alex strayed from his path and went after Aria.

"Alex, no!" came Callie's cry of panic, but Aria just continued to smirk as her browns eyes shifted, first to red, then gold, and stood her ground as she met Alex head on.

Her left hand came up to grab onto the wrist of Alex's outstretched right arm and her right came up around his throat. Digging her claws in, she shifted and slammed him into the ground as the area around them cracked and shook from the energy. Red sparks lit up in her eyes, and she let out a bright grin, elongated fangs protruding from her lips, and Alex let out a gasp of shock as pain overcame his entire system and his body went slack, paralyzed and unable to move. She stared into his eyes and snapped at him playfully before removing her hands, leaving five small puncture marks on this throat and around his wrist. He didn't understand what had just happened, there were no additional injuries to his body, so why was there all this pain?

On the other side, Lexie narrowed her eyes and had intercepted Teddy mid-stride with a powerful uppercut, sending her airborne. She summoned a blade made purely of energy in her right hand, and appeared in front of a still airborne Teddy, throwing out her left arm, palm forward, a powerful wave of energy send Teddy backwards. Flashing quickly behind her, Lexie slashed down diagonally with her blade, from right to left. Addison cried out in panic as she watched the blade go completely through Teddy's body and she was slammed into the ground.

The ground cracked and Teddy struggled to move, lifting her head slightly, before dropping back onto the broken ground, exhausted and overwhelmed by pain. She didn't understand, not that she was complaining, but there was not a single drop of blood from where the blade had gone clean through her, no mark, no sign whatsoever, but she could still feel it. The pain and energy coming from it still reverberating throughout her system, overloading her already confused mind and so she lay there unmoving.

Addison rushed over to Teddy and lifted her head so it rested in her lap. "God, Teddy, are you okay?" Her hands were a flurry of movement, as she couldn't decide where to place them, scared of aggravating any unseen injuries.

"I-" Teddy's voice was husky and she coughed to clear it, "I'm fine… I think. Just really confused, and kind of horrified that Lexie Grey just kicked my ass. Also kind of really impressed that Lexie Grey just kicked my ass." She laughed, groaning as the movement caused pain the exploded everywhere.

Addison laughed, relieved that Teddy was still so upbeat, but was cut short as Lexie approached them, blade still in hand. She tensed in fear of the blade and closed her eyes, ready for the attack.

"That's enough now." Terri's voice commanded, and when she reopened her eyes, she saw Lexie's had extended to her. She narrowed her eyes at the offered hand and was shocked when Teddy's pale hand landed in it.

Lexie pulled her to her feet and Teddy smile brightly, despite her pain. "Good match, you sure showed us." Lexie just nodded before walking over to Terri and Aria, who was already at her side.

Addison turned to see Mark supporting a struggling Alex, as they walked over to them.

"I'm sure you now understand my reasons?" Terri asked. "The four of you didn't stand a chance against Lexie, the person you once acknowledged as the weakest of the group." Her eyes glanced across the four, before landing on Alex. "And Alex, you were quite efficiently and effortlessly taken down by Aria, even after the additional power from the seal." Alex grunted at the direct reprimand, clearly annoyed, but couldn't deny the fact that it was quite effortless on Aria's part.

"Do you understand what I mean when I say you are too weak right now? It is not to insult you, nor a payback for leaving 6 months ago, I am merely pointing out a fact." Terri continued. "There is no doubt that the leaving played a great part in this, so may I suggest that you spend less time questioning and doubting me and more time just listening?"

The four stood silently, mulling over the fact that Terri was right, and the last part was clearly a reference to the unjustified abandonment 6 months ago.

"Starting the day after tomorrow, the four of you will train with Thalia and Clio, Artemis and Apollo will train with Lexie and Calliope will train with Aria, is that understood?"

The four nodded obediently, heads bowed in defeat and submission.

"Good, then you are all dismissed." With that, Terri turned and walked away.

"Wait!" Arizona called out.

"I said, dismissed." Terri replied, tone sharp and cold, and Arizona straightened up involuntarily, bowing her head.

"R-right." She stuttered dejectedly.

General p.o.v – Hades and Erica

Erica stood in the darkened throne room, weakened by her encounter with first Terri, and then Poseidon, as she watched her father rant angrily about the events.

"I cannot believe what happened. I will not tolerate disobedience, nor disrespect! How did Athena even know where they were? And the charm! Poseidon and Aphrodite should have died the moment they left that room!" he roared.

"Maybe you should have listened to me and not have trusted Apollo into our camp." She muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" His sharp tone caused her to straighten.

"I-I said, maybe it had something to do with Apollo?"

He narrowed his eyes at her, "Apollo? He knew of nothing. If anything, it would have been that pathetic, useless piece of trash Graham."

She flinched at the mention of the man that was like a brother to her. Brother… Her mind was drawn back to what she had seen. I still have family left, Athena… She's my half-sister. Why has father never told me? And Dionysus, he made me kill him, did he know that he was Trevor's twin?

"Did you know that Dionysus and Trevor were twins?" she blurted suddenly, and recoiled immediately, cursing herself for losing control at a time like this.

"What? That doesn't matter; they were both useless and disposable. They couldn't even get a simple task completed, unlike you, my dear Erica. Athena tells me that you were successful in your attempts to kill her. Zeus and his band of merry men had gotten involved and somehow revived the little bitch."

'Maybe you should have believed me the first time around. I watched her die' she thought angrily.

"I want you to go kill Athena's bride."

"What? Why? It won't make any difference, Athena's power isn't linked to her mate!" Erica exclaimed in surprise.

"I don't care about that. Athena has been a thorn in my side for too long and she's spoiled so many of my plans. I just want to teach her a little lesson." He grinned evilly.

"Like when you planted Dionysus in her life and then killed our… her mother?"

He stared at her with his sharp eyes, mouth drawn into a tight line. "You have never disappointed me daughter, so don't start now. It would be a shame to have to replace you at such a short notice. I have spent far too long training and perfecting you to be the heir I need, and even now, you are nowhere near where I want you to be. It would be such a chore to train someone new." He stated plainly and Erica stared up in shock.

"W-what? I'm your heir by right! I'm your daughter and I share your blood!"

"Ah, tsk tsk tsk, since when have you developed such a naïve sense of the world? It is the type of idea the Zeus would plant into his men." Hades smirked at her, "Let me tell you something Erica, to me, heirs have nothing to do with blood. Anyone can be an heir. You want power? I can give you power, the serum we developed can work on any of our men, or have you forgotten already? What I need is an heir who will listen and heed to only me. They will sit when I tell them to, stand when I say, speak when I command them to, and they will kill whomever and whenever I tell them to." His voice reached a roar, before he calmed. "Blood means nothing."

Erica paled, his words hitting deeper than she had ever expected. All she had ever wanted was to make her father proud, to support him in his plans. She fought harder than anyone, become colder and stronger, all so he would notice her. She tried to make up for the fact that her brother had died, tried to do everything that Trevor should have been the one to do, but in the end, nothing mattered. Hades never saw her as his child, he only saw her as a soldier, a tool to be used in war, and that hurt her more than she could imagine.

"Will you be the one to kill the bride or do I need to search for a new heir?" Hades asked her.

"I-I'm still not 100 per cent yet, the injuries will hold me back, I just need some time to heal." She replied.

He scoffed displeased. "Go to the healers and use more of the serum, it will give you the power you need to fulfil the task. You do not need me to tell you this Erica, you know this."

"B-but, my body still hasn't recovered from the overload of the serum from before. It will kill m-"

"-Are you disobeying me?" He cut her off, unwilling to listen to her pleas. "Just go pick up a nice juicy human before you use the serum, and it will cancel out the effects, there will be no harm done to you."

"I-I can't. I just need some time." She begged. She had never imagined him to be so cold and uncaring towards her. Perhaps they had never had a normal kind of father-daughter relationship. But never, in her entire existence, had he made such a blatant dismissal of her wellbeing. "Please!"

He sighed, "I am very disappointed in you Erica. I thought that you of all people would understand the importance of our goals. Especially after all this disappointment I have faced lately, I never thought that you would join them." He stared right into her eyes and she felt like he was staring into her soul, it made her shiver in fear. "You have one week to 'heal' and such, and then you must leave. I don't care what you're condition is by then, because if the serum doesn't kill you, I will." He stared at her, making sure she heard and understood his orders before turning away, dismissing her.

Erica left the room in a daze, completely overwhelmed by emotions. She wanted to cry, but she wouldn't allow it. She would never allow anyone to see her weaknesses, especially not her father, if she could even call him that anymore.

She recalled the memories she had seen of Athena, Dionysus and their parents. They were really happy, and she actually felt guilty that Dionysus had been playing them all. She saw Artemis and Apollo and the bond between the three. She remembered the anger, concern, worry and fear that Poseidon and Aphrodite had displayed when they entered the room to see her father hovering over a broken and weak Athena. She envied them for having so many people to love them. She envied them for having family that supported them, and she hated the fact that she wished she had something like that.

She couldn't hold it in anymore and flashed through the corridors, knocking over stray soldiers in her rush and stormed into her room, slamming the door closed behind her. She leaned onto the door and let the hot tears pour down her face.

She couldn't deal with it anymore, it was too painful. She closed her eyes and sought out the aura signature that she had never, in a million years, ever imagined she'd call out for. When she finally found it, as weak as it was, she latched onto it like it was her lifeline and she begged, letting her pain, her anguish and her despair show through her broken voice.

"I need you…"