Hook… I Will Always Find You

Chapter Twenty-Three

Deep within Hades' lair…

Graham and the rest of those who followed after him to help the heroes above, entered the God's lair and stepped into the center of the throne room past where the five rivers merged together by way of the dungeons just beyond, their weapons out and raised as the Huntsman and his friends were prepared for a fight against an all-powerful being they didn't expect to be able to defeat. They only hoped to distract Hades long enough to buy their friends the time they needed to find and save their friend.

"Hades isn't here," one of the woman among them said with concern in her voice when they arrived and stopped to look around.

"So much for our plan to bring the fight to him," another of the rebels answered brusquely, then he turned around to face their leader.

The hunter loosened his grip on his bow while he looked around them and then he replied, "We've invaded his throne room and now we make it known to him we're here. Destroy everything you can. Hades will soon learn he's got company, and hopefully it's enough to draw him back here."

A rebel standing beside him spoke out in objection saying, "We won't stand a chance against him if Hades surprises us by coming back here when our backs are turned."

"We're already dead, Eli," Graham responded strongly, when he turned his head to look over at the friend who disagreed with him. "We've been living as prey for this God and his goons, only raising our weapons to defend ourselves. Now we have a chance to take the fight to him so we can help those who need us. And Hades won't surprise us so long as we expect him to show his face. Now… are you with me?"

"You're right," the one Graham called Eli answered with a nod of his head. "Destroy everything you said?"

The Huntsman smiled as he replied, "As much as you can."

Graham swiftly re-tethered his bow again and swiftly aimed his arrow, then let it fly as the projectile struck the head of the deity's throne. The rest of those brave enough to stand with their friend lifted their own bows, swords, pistols, and whatever other weapons they brought with them again, then followed the hunter's lead as they began to plunder and destroy everything before them.

Before he joined in with them again, Graham swiftly turned to another of his friends among them and pulled the woman over to towards the green river where a boat laid in wait while he whispered, "Before Hades returns, I need you to see what you can do about pilfering this boat so we can give it to Emma and her friends, so they'll be able to leave the Underworld when the time comes. Can you do that?"

"Of course I can," she responded confidently, then they carefully bent down above the boat floating within the river knowing the water couldn't be touched. "I've fought with you to protect those trying to hide from Hades and his thugs for two years, Graham. I thought you knew me."

"I do," the Huntsman answered and then leaned in to kiss her, and she him until she pulled away first to do as he asked of her. "Thank you, Lila."

Lila smiled when Graham rose to his feet again to join with the others in the lair's destruction, then she laid her hand up against the boat's planks and summoned the magic within her as her powers emitted from her palm. In a matter of seconds, the boat began to shrink until at last a glass bottle was swiftly forged around it to capture the vessel within. Once she finished, the witch used her power again to lift the bottle from the River of Lost Souls, then reached out to take hold of it.

The men and women now separated and banished from the rest of the rebellion worked hard and fast to do as was needed of them. Graham walked to the throne and pulled his arrow again from its head rest, then used it to slash the back and cushioning until it was shredded. A few of the men took their handmade clubs and hammers to smash the stone statues and any other possessions that the deity surrounded himself with. Possessions which Hades had stolen from the many worlds above he had visited within the limited time he was able to leave his realm.

Then, just as the Huntsman hoped, Hades finally appeared among the band of rebels along with a number of his own men including the pirate crew who used to work under Captain Silver's command, and the God was angry upon seeing his lair being invaded and destroyed by those he had ordered many of his own minions to find, only for them to have failed him.

Graham swiftly fired another arrow directly at Hades towards his chest in order to draw attention onto himself. As expected, the deity was easily able to catch it as it was about to strike him and when he did so, he used his power to raise the projectile into the air, then propelled it directly back at the hunter who immediately dodged it when he ducked behind the grandfather clock standing near the God's throne.

Hades called out to the leader crossly stating, "You rebels are brave, but attacking me in my own lair… far more foolish than brave. Or is it that you're after something I might have stolen from you?"

Graham looked toward the deity from behind the clock and being careful not to give away the real reason for them being there, he firmly replied, "Let's just say that we've grown tired of living in hiding and in fear. We're just here to make a stand. As foolish as it might seem in your eyes."

"What you've done is condemn yourself and your friends here to a much worse fate than having to hide out in the woods under some witch's protection spells," the God smugly retorted until he was suddenly struck from behind him by a blast of power and when he turned around to face his assailant, Lila stood there with her hands raised before her, then attempted to blast him again, only this time Hades was able to deflect her magic as he propelled it at two of the other rebels among them, knocking them both unconscious. "Let me guess… you're the witch helping these rebels? You've picked the wrong side to fight on."

"I don't believe I have," she responded confidently. "You can do whatever you want to us, but not everyone here in this realm of yours is afraid of you. And we aren't the last of our rebellion."

Hades glared at the woman and swiftly fired his own magic at her, which she attempted to block with her own, but his power was too strong for her and she was suddenly thrown back against one of the stone walls behind her, then fell roughly against the ground. She was hurting and winded, but not knocked unconscious. Yet she could barely move, though she struggled to rise again to her feet to help her friends when the other rebels began to charge at the deity. The Huntsman fired another arrow at him to draw Hades' attention away from her, the projectile striking him in his back. While he reached behind him to pull it out, three more of the men and women charged him. Unfortunately, Hades swiftly raised his hand out against them as he emitted his power again and blasted each of them into the green river flowing behind them, then propelled another right into the River of Forgetfulness.

The God struck out against Graham again when the hunter suddenly ran out from his cover behind the clock and raced past Hades when he became distracted again by a few more of those fighting with Graham, but Graham deflected the deity's magic using the sword he also carried on him which had been enchanted to deflect magic even as powerful as Hades'.

While he helped the witch he had grown to love despite them both being trapped within the Underworld, it was then that Hades gave a loud whistle and all of a sudden, a three headed dog came charging into the lair as the beast known as Cerberus swiftly began to attack the rebels who immediately turned their attentions to the creature.

When he saw that Hades was watching his pet fighting against the remainder of their friends, Graham helped Lila back to her feet as he whispered quickly, "We need to get out of here so we can find Emma and the others. They need that boat."

She made sure she still had the bottle containing the vessel and that it was safely tucked within her clothes, then answered just as quietly, "Let's go. Do you think we've given them enough time?"

"I hope so," the hunter responded somberly.

"Come on," Lila uttered and then swiftly used her magic once more to place a cloaking spell over herself and Graham so they could run past the God hopefully undetected while he remained distracted, then escaped from his throne room once again by way of the dungeons where they entered from.

Hades finally gave another loud whistle to stop Cerberus from destroying anymore of what was left of the rubble throughout his lair once those other than their leaders were either captured after being taken down by the three headed beast, or knocked into one of the five rivers surrounding them. Then he turned around in search of Graham and Lila only to find they had escaped within the chaos. The God let out a scream in anger, then he went to work in remodeling his throne room after ordering the beast to return to the dungeons.