(A/N) Thanks for all the completely awesome support you guys are giving me. I'm thankful. This might be the last chapter, and I'm unwilling to do an epilogue for…reasons. I'm sorry that I just announced this now, but that's how the chapter is looking. I love you all and I hope you enjoyed the Darkness is Singing.

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO

It was all too soon that they heard another ear-shattering roar rip through the air, so powerful that the leaves on the trees shook and quaked with the force of it. Nico wouldn't handle another demon, he was too exhausted, and he could see that his comrades felt likewise. The demon they'd been ganging up on had long since got bored of toying with them and was now actually trying to slaughter them, which was ten times worse considering that she'd nearly taken Will's head off when she was just "playing". She swiped at them once more with her claws, having raked Nico across the cheek earlier, the wound burning and stinging as blood dripped down his face and soaked into his shirt. The scent pf blood must've driven her into a frenzy, because now she was a whirlwind of teeth, claws, and snake eyes. Jason swung at her with his sword, but she was too fast, dodging out of the way, and the only thing that kept her from leaping on top of Jason and tearing him to shreds was the fact that Will had severed her hand from her body.

She yelped, more out of astonishment than anything else, and clutched the bleeding stump as the hand slowly began to grow back. Will quickly swabbed the blood off of his dagger as it began to smoke and steam from the demon's blood, and he managed to get it all off before any real damage was done. The look in her eyes was absolutely murderous as she turned to the son of Apollo slowly, and the pit that had formed in Nico's stomach almost made him forget about the approaching demon, until a shadow fell over the entire clearing. There was a gasp and all commotion seemed to stop, even Perseus and Alpheus ceased their savage ripping and tearing at one another, and Nico looked up to see the one thing that he'd been unconsciously desperate for since the quest began.

"Whaddup, losers!" Leo shouted from Festus' back as the metal dragon hovered in midair, the beat of his wings like the pounding of a huge heartbeat. His Celestial bronze body was nearly blinding to look at in the slowly dimming sky, and he was clearly glowing from the inside. Nico looked at Jason to see his eyes softening, crinkling at the corners as Piper stood up and waved, with Annabeth, Calypso, Frank, and Hazel in tow. The original Seven plus Annabeth and Calypso. It couldn't've been better. The newcomers' eyes widened when they saw the demons in their true forms, and Nico was pretty sure that Perseus' zebra head winked at Annabeth, who rolled her eyes, but they soon recovered and drew their weapons.

That seemed to spur the fight back into motion as Alpheus leapt upon Perseus, who screeched and gauged at the eyes of his brother's dragon head, efficiently blinding it. Then he was pretty sure that Perseus' zebra head whistled, because out of nowhere a huge black mass the size of a tank just appears, and Nico gasped to see the hugest fucking hellhound he had ever seen. Its eyes glowed red and foam dripped from its mouth as it charged towards Alpheus, who was apparently attacking its master, however another whistle had the beast was deflected, bounding over to the demigods. They did the normal thing and scattered like ants, but surprisingly the demon wasn't fast enough, and she was effectively squashed by a huge furry body. A chorus of cries echoed from the surrounding forests and a horde of demons swept towards them in a torrent of biting, slashing bodies, and Nico felt resigned. This was it

"You guys go!" Perseus' dragon head hissed as his panther head sunk its fangs into the neck of Alpheus' zebra head, thrashing from side to side until it was almost ripped clean off. The green light of its six eyes continued to glow, and it apparently was still functioning, but Nico could see the blood spurting from the wound. "Mrs. O'Leary and your friends can take it from here!"

"But what about the tiny fact that we can't kill demons?!" Will shrilled, his hands trembling as he watched Festus touch down and begin to blowtorch the horde of demons that swarmed him, trying and failing to penetrate his powerful armor. Those who tried to use their blood to melt it were faced with the problem that, because Festus' skin was so hot, it immediately evaporated before the corrosiveness could even graze it. Their bodies melted almost halfway from the mechanical dragon's flames before the sludge remolded itself, and it must've hurt like a bitch, but Nico couldn't really find it in him to care.

"Do you remember the symbols on Orion's knife?" Perseus called, his voice nearly drowned out by the rage of battle. "Those weren't really to call the Hunters. It makes it so that the knife can kill demons!" Before he could say more, a sickening yowl was torn from his throat as Alpheus ripped off one of his major wings, and it was shredded by the whirl of teeth, claws, swords, fire, and feet before it even hit the ground. They slipped out of sight, and Nico was unsure of who was winning or not, and that made him worried. He'd have to worry about Perseus' well-being later, though. Right now, they had a job to do, and he was unsure of why Perseus had withheld the information until now, but there was a resigned look in his eyes, something that spoke of someone greeting death like an old friend, and Nico could only pray that the demon didn't die. Then they'd have no one, and he had to admit, he'd grown on him, and he hated the fact that he couldn't sense the death lingering on him. It didn't work with monsters and the like.

"C'mon, let's go!" Jason called, and before Nico could object, before Nico could tell them that this was such a fucking bad idea, he dashed off into the cave, with Will hot on his heels. Nico took a deep breath and plunged into the darkness, trying not to think about Tartarus. That place had made him fear the underground, if only slightly. Even though it was his father's realm, he still couldn't stand plunging head first into a dark, enclosed, underground place where he knew the big baddies were living. It was suicide, but he decided that it was better than letting Lilith take over the world and herd humans into slaughter houses to be canned and shipped to grocery stores. The mere thought made him shiver from head to toe as he followed the faint light that came from his comrades' weapons, the light having long since faded behind them. With the night creeping in, Nico was surprised that there was any to begin with.

When they were finally sure that they weren't being followed, they slowed to a stop and huddled together in a tight circle. The sound of metal-on-metal gave Nico the heebie-jeebies as Will painstakingly carved out the symbols from Orion's knife onto their weapons, quickly making work of his bow and arrows and finally allowing his dagger to be engraved by Nico's sword.

҉҉ Ӝ ʘ

If there were any stragglers lingering in these depths, they'd undoubtedly heard them by now, however they weren't confronted by anyone, which made Nico nervous. His friends were on edge too, and he considered the fact that Perseus may be lying, that, even though he'd written a section of the demonic bible under the name Abaddon and had worked with them thus far, he was still out to kill them. They could only stew in their own juices, however, and their footsteps bounced off the walls and echoed countless times, making it seem like a whole group was walking with them. Nico kept periodically turning around to make sure that that wasn't the case, his gaze wary as it raked across the darkness beyond. The light from their weapons was dim, and it didn't help that demons had excellent eyes, especially in the dark. They were stilling ducks here; bears wandering into a huge trap that was waiting to swallow them whole. He couldn't really dwell on those thoughts without chickening out, running back up to the surface where the sounds of battle could clearly be heard. Festus roared, Hunters shouted, and weapons clashed. But there was something missing. Perseus and Alpheus no longer shrieked and screamed, and his friends seemed to notice this, too, because they stopped dead in their tracks.

Turning slowly, Nico was truly unsurprised to see a pair of glowing green viper eyes staring back at him. The only question was whether they were friendly or not. Jason leveled his sword at the intruder, and the dim light illuminated the sharp planes of Perseus' face as he grinned, though it was completely and utterly forced. Nico didn't blame him, and even though it wasn't uttered aloud, he knew that Perseus had just killed his brother. The brother that the whole world knew he would give anything for. The one who'd betrayed him.

"Glad you're okay," Nico managed, his voice hoarse as he regarded the demon, who was naked except for a pair of bloodstained boxers that sagged on his waist. "What's with your lack of clothing?"

"It got ripped off," Perseus replied simply, and his voice sounded…odd. It was Perseus' voice, but it didn't sound like Perseus. He had a certain way of speaking that Nico had begun to associate with the demon and this certainly wasn't it. Then again, it also sounded as if he was trying to get used to using his voice again. It must've been hard to transition from speaking in his true form to speaking in his human form. He decided to cut the demon some slack. He'd just lost his brother, and for the first time the son of hades could relate to the demon; he'd lost his sister. Sure, he hadn't killed her, but a part of him always blamed himself for not being there for her when the Automaton crushed her, for not going there in her stead. He'd had to watch as his sister smiled at him for the last time, giving him the Hades figure that had activated the whole thing, and plunged into the huge robot. She'd died because of him. He couldn't dwell on Bianca's memory, however, because there was currently a demon apocalypse going on and it wasn't just going to wait around for Nico to have his deep emotional moment.

"Let's move out," Jason announced, and the four of them set off down the dark passage, with the demon in the lead. He'd obviously been there before, never hesitating as he turned corners and chose paths when they split in two, three, and even four different ways. It didn't take long until Nico was hopelessly lost, and he wished he'd brought Hazel and her freaky sense of direction underground. She was up on the surface fighting, and this could possibly her last fight. He could lose another sister…

No, don't think. Just move, he told himself and trained his eyes on the small of Will's back, where the weakness of his Achilles curse had been. He wanted to go up to the son of Apollo and hold his hand, because he was terrified as all fuck and really needed some TLC from his boyfriend, and he was pretty sure that that feeling was reciprocated, but Will needed both hands in case he had to draw his bow, and Nico cursed his father Apollo for being the god of archery and not one-handed fighting instruments. With the lack of Will's hand to hold, he turned to the grip of his trusty Stygian iron sword, which, instead of glowing gold like Jason and Will's weapons, glowed a sinister purple. Nico could see why others had thought of it as creepy, and he was starting to get a little creeped out himself, though over the course of his time with it he'd witness the glow going from a depressed mauve to a less depressing but still creepy lilac, which he could only suppose was due to his lift in overall mood; now that he had Will, he never truly was sad. Even now, he wasn't sad. Just terrified. Completely and utterly terrified.

Perseus was eerily silent. Even when he and Will had been riding on the demon's back in his true form, he'd still maintained some air of humor, but this time he was quiet. Sullen. This was a very important mission, Nico supposed, and there was absolutely no time for jokes. Besides, the demon was probably heartbroken at the moment, with no place for humor when the loss of his identical twin was so overwhelming. Nico had to applaud his ability to keep going; Bianca's death had rendered him numb and depressed, and it took a few days at the least before he could even do anything but eat, drink, shit, and sleep.

"So, what are we facing, here?" Nico managed to ask, unwilling to tear the demon out of his mourning but desperate to have some idea of what they were up against.

"I found out…from Alfie, or course," his voice was bitter as he said the name, "that Cain had employed him when he was in Hell."

"Cain?" Will asked, horror-struck, and Nico could see how much his dagger was shaking. Nico could only hope that they would be steadier when his boyfriend was taking aim with his bow; he didn't want his boyfriend to accidently shoot himself or him, Jason, and Perseus. That would be unfortunate for all of them, but mostly the demon; he just finished killing his brother in order to save the demigods, only to be killed by one of them. The thought made the purple glow of his sword darken, becoming more somber. "Like, Cain Cain?"

"Indeed. And Lilith has been working for him, too. He wasn't within the contract of…my deal with the gods, so he wasn't raised from Hell. She, they, were currently working on raising him up. Even though he was a human, he was made a monster by the mark that God put upon him, so even if he's weaker, he's almost as powerful as demons themselves. He's smart, too, and would make a very decisive leader," Perseus inhaled sharply, avoiding everyone's eyes as he stared at his folded hands. "They…they'd been planning on raising him and then weaving into the human masses. He'd work his way up until he had a credible influence, perhaps President, and then he'd tighten his hold and they'd take over. The US treasury will have enough money to pay for the breeding farms and slaughter houses that they were planning to build. They would summon him via ritual using the ones hidden in the Demonic Bible. Alfie…well, he stole one from a top secret facility and made off with it. It also contained those symbols," he gestured to the ones on their swords, "but every demon has dedicated them to memory."

"So what does this ritual need?" Jason asked.

"Three sacrifices. All demigods of the Big Three," Perseus replied, his voice hard. "I'd worked for them before they set out to kill me, and I found out that you and Nico were supposed to be two of the three sacrifices. That's why I didn't kill you the minute I saw you; I had to bring you back alive. They wanted to lure Nico's sister in as well, and I was supposed to get her, too, before I bailed. Will was supposed to be executed, but I insisted that I keep him as a sort of feeder, I suppose. They bought it."

"Wow…" Nico breathed. He had no idea how much effort the demon had been putting in from the sidelines, how much he owed the demon. Perseus was sacrificing everything for them, or at least for their cause, and Nico was keen to note that he should be honored in some way if they made it out of this ordeal alive, with 'if' being the key word in that sentence.

"They also needed the heart of a basilisk and the hide of a hellhound," it was at that moment that Perseus' hellhound, Mrs. O'Leary, let out a particularly vicious bellow that made the cave tremble. Nico added the fact that he was also endangering one of his best friends for tis cause as well; only God knows how long he and that hellhound had been companions. Everything was smacking around in Nico's head, even when he was trying to wipe it clean, and he could only bear it as they trekked through the tunnel, still unchallenged. "The rest of the demons are in the meeting room, performing the ritual. I'll take Lilith, you guys get the cronies."

"But aren't you injured?" Will asked worriedly. The wounds on your true form don't transfer to the human form, do they?"

"They do," Perseus replied through clenched teeth, and at that single moment Nico could hear the agony in his voice, but it was gone as soon as it had come. "But I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? My father is the god of healing, I can help-"

"That's not needed!" Perseus snapped, a little too forcefully as his green eyes blazed. He seemed to calm himself down, taking a deep breath and saying, "But thanks for the offer." Will didn't reply, just scrutinized the demon through narrowed eyes, as if trying to dissect him and reveal all of his secrets. There wasn't a payout, however, because the son of Apollo dropped the subject altogether, which he wouldn't've done had he had another argument.

Instead, he whispered, "I hope the others heard you. About the symbols thing, I mean."

"Trust me, they heard. I made sure of it."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

And then they were standing somewhere that seemed like a dead end but, when the lights of their weapons ere shined on it, was clearly not a dead end if one noted the huge ten-foot, arched wooden doors that lay before them. The brass handles looked incredibly heavy, each one of the rings held by a snarling dragon head, and the wood was scoured with claw marks.

"Family troubles," Perseus explained wryly when he caught the three demigods staring, especially at the shady dark stains that littered the floor as well, though his green eyes finally gained back some of that spark of humor. "C'mon."

"No plan?" Nico squeaked, his grip on his sword growing white-knuckled. "We're just going to march in there and demand they cooperate? Hazel is up on the surface and, if you haven't forgotten, Jason and I are children of the Big Three! We're just completing the ritual! What are the rules of this game you're playing?"

"Don't die," Perseus replied bluntly and then he was throwing the doors open, swaggering inside and leaving the demigods no choice but to follow. Needless to say, the room looked incredibly satanic. Pentagrams and symbols that Nico couldn't even identify littered the walls, floor, and ceiling, sprayed on with red spray paint, judging by the empty bottles stashed in the corner. The black candles placed meticulously around the perimeter of certain symbols lit the room particularly well, giving it an eerie glow and outlining the silhouettes of the five figures huddled in the center. Their red robes made it look like they were a flower unfurling as they turned to face the four intruders, their snake eyes glowing from under their hoods.

"Hello, mummy!" Perseus announced, his voice jam packed with so much bravado that Nico couldn't tell whether he was faking it or not. Was he really that confident about facing off against his own, more powerful mother and four of his siblings? Would he even want to kill more family members after he killed Alfie? "Off on your little escapades, I see?"

"Belial," a very familiar female voice growled, and Nico could only assume that this was Lilith. Fury began to rise up, nearly consuming his thoughts. This was the bitch who'd killed Dakota and practically eaten Amalthea, two innocents who didn't deserve what she'd given them. She was the one who forced them into this entire situation, and if she hadn't grouped the demons together there wouldn't've been a problem.

"Wasn't his name Abaddon?" Jason whispered to him, and Nico shrugged.

"Maybe he has more than one name," he replied, hating the fact that they were basically awkward bystanders during this entire conversation. Despite this, he really couldn't envy the demon, who had taken the spotlight, and Nico was glad to stay in the darkness for this one, especially when it came to communing with super psychotic demons.

"You haven't changed your name like your stupid brother, have you?" she scoffed. "How is he, by the way? Oh wait, he's dead because you killed him." Oof, that was a low blow, and even Nico knew it. Perseus visibly flinched.

"You gave me no choice," his voice wavered, but his fists were balled at his sides, blood beginning to drip onto the floor from where his claws had formed and were digging into his palms. Nico wanted to tell him to stop, that it wouldn't benefit him in the long run, but he remained silent, knowing that this was not the right time. "He would've never forgiven me. I had to kill him."

"So what, you and your petty little friends will try to kill me? They're practically useless, you know, but I could put the blond one with the scar and the black haired one to good use, no?" Lilith removed her hood to reveal her wicked fangs. Her pupils were mere slivers in her blue irises and her claws were completely unsheathed, long black talons that curved in. Her blood red hair made her all the more eerie. "My son, you were so very loyal before. It seemed like only a few moments ago you were willing to kill for me, what changed?" Perseus opened his mouth for a scathing reply, but Lilith silenced him with a wave of her hand. "Never mind, I don't care. Cain will take the two I just mentioned," she turned to her lackeys, "so don't kill them. Kill the other blond, though. He's useless."

With a wild roar, Perseus bellowed and charged, and the demigods took that as their cue.

All at once the room was alive with the sounds of battle as the four demons charged at the demigods while Lilith and Perseus became locked in that deadly dance that their kind fought in. Will retreated to the back corner, drawing his bow and arrows, and Nico was glad that they were more focused on him and Jason to care much for the son of Apollo. At least his boyfriend was safe…for now. A demon with gold eyes that reminded him chillingly of Kronos swung first, and Nico was only barely able to duck the lightning-fast movement, though he was pretty sure that a few hairs on his head were shaved off. It was an unfair battle, with the four demon splitting up to take on Jason and Nico, two versus one. The son of Hades had to keep track of two demons at once, and most of his movements were dodging rather than swinging, because they were just too fast.

They were laughing, jeering at them and calling them helpless, saying how Cain would love the taste of their blood as his first meal in the over world. They were like the other demons, toying with him. They weren't even trying, and that was what would be their downfall. They weren't the big fish in the pond, weren't the unfillable machine they were before. Now they were vulnerable, and it was so amusing to see that they didn't know of that fact. When they finally found out, their cries of horror were music to Nico's ears. A demon that had been teasing Jason suddenly face planted into the ground, about five arrows protruding from his neck, and when he didn't stir they began to panic.

Nico began to get swings in as their movements became more fearful. A nick on one's cheek, a long gash on another's collar bone. As if they were attracted by one another's gravity, the two children of the Big Three were suddenly at one another's side, hacking and slashing and stabbing in a deadly mix of Greek and Roman fighting tactics. The demons resorted to circling warily, and Nico and Jason went back to back as they regarded the three remaining ones cautiously, knowing that letting their guard down meant certain death. These guys were faster than you could ever imagine, and the only reason they were alive right now were their inhuman abilities that came with being demigods.

Out of his peripheral vision he could see Lilith and Perseus fighting like, well, demons. They looked like dragons had taken a human form, and were tearing chunks out of one another's flesh with their teeth, their claws tearing any skin they came into contact with to ribbons. Nico would've laughed, considering that from very, very far away it would look like they were making out (which was incest-y), but no, they ere really killing each other. The best part was that it looked like Perseus was winning. Lilith may be the first, but Perseus was faster. Stronger. He was Demon 2.0, and he was kicking major ass. Nico was proud to know him.

His sword swung in a deadly arc as a demon darted in for a poorly-planned attack, one arrow protruding from his back, and his head was effectively sliced in half. It was unintentionally some Mortal Combat shit, and Nico wanted to puke when he saw the…um…halves of the guy's head. It was fucking horrifying. Jason hacked down one trying to flee out the doors, slicing a neat path down his jugular, and the wound spurted until the demon as dead on the floor, and the other was left to fall to Will's arrows. It was glorious, if a bit morbid, and they turned to see Perseus snapping Lilith's neck as the demon crumbled to the floor.

"Populations should even out after this," he told them nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just murdered his own mother, wiping his bloodstained hands on his soggy red boxers. It didn't help considering, they were soaked up to his goddamn wrists in crimson. "I can hear them killing each other out there. The string's sort of been cut, and now they're obliterating each other rather than the enemy." He grinned, and it seemed maniacal with all the blood smeared over his mouth and staining his serrated teeth. "Good job, guys, I didn't know you had it in you."

"Um…thanks?" Nico replied, and he and the two other demigods exchanged a weary look.

He really needed a nap.

-Ω-

The battle was over before they reached the surface. Scuff marks and demon blood had made the grass wither and die, making it look so much more like the battlefield that it was, rather than a cute, innocent clearing. The bodies littering the ground didn't help at all. Leo was checking Festus for injuries, though the metal dragon looked fine, and the Hunters were taking a head count, though many were sobbing and cradling unmoving girls in their arms. As soon as Will stepped out of the cave, Nico was on him, tackling him to the ground and kissing the daylights out of him. Piper mirrored his actions as she ran, to Jason, both who were soaked in the blood of what was hopefully others, though Jason boasted a cut on his forehead and quite the shiner on his right eye, though the daughter of Aphrodite didn't seem to care as she hugged him tight and captured her lips in his.

Will still couldn't believe that it was all over. That they'd won. Nico's body slotted easily against his and he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend tightly, never wanting to let go. Some red-eyed Hunters were glaring at them for making out in their presence, especially since the other couples had gotten the same idea, though Calypso had insisted that she and Leo break apart so she could tend to people's injuries, which were mostly demon-blood burns. Perseus sat to the side quietly, his gaze trained on a huge, mangled corpse that was tucked into the trees. Will felt a pang of raw sympathy for the demon as a silent tear streaked down his face, and he padded over to the unrecognizable body. It was covered in blood, with one and a half wings missing, and its zebra head was hanging on by a thread.

Alpheus.

Even though the guy had deserved what had come to him, betraying them and all, Will was so sad that he had to push Nico away, and despite the son of Hades' protests at first, the black-haired boy quieted when he followed Will's gaze, where the demon was now in the process of digging a grave. And a large one, at that. Everyone's eyes seemed to be trained on the demon, who was now crying profusely as he continued to dig with his claws at his only spades, but everyone knew better than to offer help. This was Perseus' way of coping. Of mourning. The least he could do was dig his own twin brother a grave. What an awful thing. At least Nico and the others who'd lost parents usually never had any remains to bury, and at least they hadn't had to kill their loved ones for the greater good.

They regrouped, talking softly out of respect for a few hours, doing a final head count to find that only four Hunters had lost their lives and everyone else wasn't hurt mortally. Wounds were cleaned and bandaged. Different sides of the story were exchanged. Small funerals were held for the Hunters who'd lost their lives, and Artemis was apparently listening as their bodies dispersed into stars that dissipated almost as quickly as they'd come. Everyone tried not to pay attention to the demon dragging his brother's body into the deep hole, tried to ignore the way he'd finished packing up all the dirt by sunrise, tried to turn the other cheek to the two sticks tied together with God-knows-what, forming a makeshift cross that Perseus stabbed into the ground at the head of the grave. Unmarked. Uninteresting. Would probably rot away with time. Will sent a prayer to Demeter to make sure that that didn't happen, but he didn't receive any response, though he swore the two sticks flashed gold for a moment before returning to regular old sticks. Perseus didn't see. He had his head buried in his hands.

Finally, everyone was becoming restless, but nobody was willing to tear the demon away from the grave. Everyone there knew the terrible feeling that came with losing someone you love, and finally Will got the nerve to pick his way over the bodies and towards Perseus, who hadn't moved from his kneeling position at the edge of the newly-packed dirt since he'd finished the grave.

"We're going to go," he said softly. The demon didn't look up. "You can go do…whatever you want to do, but just know that you're a hero and that your name will go down in history. If you ever need someone to talk to…just call." The demon still didn't reply, and Will took that as his signal to leave, waving to the others. The demigods piled onto Festus' back as the Hunters gave a final goodbye (Will found Jason and Thalia's hug incredibly endearing), and retreated into the cover of the trees to go hunt a new monster, while also regulating demons who've become more savage than usual. Will knew that this wasn't the last they'd see of Perseus, but he couldn't help but feel as if he was abandoning the demon as the clearing became nothing more than a speck in the distance.

Whatever, he was going to have hot sex with Nico when they got back to the Hades cabin, judging from the predatory look in his boyfriend's gaze. He tried to pretend everything was fine, but he couldn't help but look back, hoping that the demon would be able to move on.

-Ω-

The demon sat with his brother until the sunset after everyone had left, partly to mourn and feel that overbearing guilt and partly to make sure that they were well and truly gone. He gazed around warily, noting the crows that had braved his presence that had descended to pick at the remains of the demons. This place would be a feasting ground when he finally left, but he knew that the animals wouldn't touch the precious thing that lay five feet beneath the dirt. When he was finally sure that he was alone, his body began to change back to the form he'd originally taken. His arms and legs shortened, his muscles turned to baby fat, and he shrank about three feet, the boxers promptly sliding off and pooling around his ankles. He was a five year old.

Alpheus looked one more time at the grave, sending one last prayer to his brother, and was gone.

He left the darkness to sing their hymns and odes to Perseus and fill the silence.