Chapter Twelve
Ana
Looking around the room I noticed the fear on everyone's faces, all apart from Hephaestus who was still silently chuckling to himself. I took a deep breath before bursting into my other form, knowing that I couldn't put this off any longer.
"Okay, I'll be back soon" I leaned in to kiss Christian, noticing the look of shock and awe on Hebe and Hephaestus's faces as they took in my other form. Seeing the now-familiar glow begin I closed my eyes feeling a sense of peace knowing where I was going, and when I opened them, I saw that I was now in the white room I had been in, in what felt like forever ago.
I looked around the room to see that it was empty. Unsure of where I would find Hestia, I called out for her, hoping that would be enough, which it turned out was all I needed to do because in front of me now stood a tall beautiful woman with blonde curly hair and soft chocolate brown eyes, in a long white Grecian gown.
"Are you Hestia?"
"I am." She said smiling softly at me.
"Zeus sent me here to find you." I could still hear the slight sound of nerves in my voice.
"No need to look so afraid, my Queen. It's such a pleasure to see you again" I took her offered hand to shake it but was frowning up at her.
"Hi, Hestia it's so nice to meet you. Sorry, what did you mean when you said 'again'?"
"I was here for your coronation, of course. We left before we could introduce ourselves because we knew that you had much to deal with. I have been looking forward to meeting you properly since that day.
"Oh, okay. Well, it's so nice to officially meet you. I wish it were under better circumstances. Zeus has sent me here to ask if you would come back with me. We need your help."
"Of course, I will help you." She held onto my hand again and smiled brightly. "Lead the way." I couldn't help the beaming smile I gave her because I really liked this woman. She was so warm and seemed to be so caring.
The room glowed until the light was so bright it blocked everything else out and within seconds we were back in the villa, and as soon as the glowing disappeared Christian was by my side "Are you okay, baby?"
"I'm fine." I squeezed his hand to reassure him before turning to the rest of the people in the room. "Everyone, I would like to introduce you all to Hestia," Everyone stood to introduce themselves to her. Everyone apart from Hebe, Artemis, and Hephaestus, who simply kissed her cheek which made sense as they were her nieces and nephew.
When we all sat down Zeus spoke to me once more in my head, "Send Christian here so that I may speak to my sister." I looked over to Christian who nodded his head telling me that he had heard what Zeus had said because anytime Zeus spoke time in this way, I kept my mind open to Christian so that he could listen too.
"I'll be back soon. Zeus needs me to take over." Christian kissed me briefly before he shimmered out, and soon after he was replaced by Zeus, and we he appeared Hebe jumped up to greet him.
"Father, how is Eileithyia?" Zeus hugged her to him as he spoke.
"Your sister is finally awake, so she is doing much better. She is strong. She will pull through this in no time. Do not worry yourself, Hebe." He kissed the top of her head as he dropped his arms and looked over to Hestia.
"Sister, thank you so much for coming to help."
"No problem brother what do you need me to do?"
"Give me a moment, Hestia, and I'll explain what I need from you. I just need to say hello to someone else, first." Zeus walked over to Pythia who was sitting in the chair he had glamoured when Huldah was in labor. He then picked her up and sat down with her on his lap holding her face and kissing her softly. "Hello my love."
Pythia smiled shyly before snuggling into him. I smiled at them then looked over to Hestia who was watching their interaction with interest and what looked like relief.
"Oh, brother. This is a very welcome and happy development. Please tell me this means you are finally done with Hera."
"Well, dear sister. Hera is the reason you are here. You know what we were forced to do to her because of her behavior. We had hoped that becoming human would humble her but we were wrong. She has assembled a small army and is trying to hurt Ana and her family. Now, I know that we are more than capable of taking them out with those that we already have helping us, but I would very much like to teach those who survive a lesson not to follow in Hera's footsteps. I would also like to give one of our brothers the pleasure of taking Hera to her new home once Ana has ended her life."
"You're going to bring Hades here, aren't you?" Hestia sounded a little disappointed and a little sad which I found confusing.
"Sister, I know why you are looking at me like that but you have to understand, if I don't do this then we could very well be back here at some point in the near future. We could be in the same situation with someone else and we can't have that. There are a lot of children here that are in danger. Not to mention and I know I don't just speak for myself when I say this, but we would all like to get back to our lives. I will not allow anyone, especially my offspring to get away with this. So, when they are stripped of their powers, they will be angry enough to want revenge. I want them to be scared enough that they will not seek it."
Hestia's shoulders slumped. "I know you are right, brother. I just don't like the thought of where Hera will be going, even though I know it's the only fitting punishment for her after what she has done, and continues to do. When will you be going to speak to Hades?"
"We will be leaving very soon, which is why I need you to help protect not only those here, I also need you to help protect Apollo and Eileithyia at the hospital."
"I can't do both on my own, brother." Hestia rolled her eyes at Zeus as stood shaking her head at him. "I will need to bring Demeter here." Hestia left without another word only to return minutes later with another beautiful woman, who was just as tall as her with a mass of strawberry blonde curls piled high on her head, wearing the same dress as Hestia and a gold crown on the top of her head.
Demeter looked around the room until her eyes landed on Zeus. "Brother, Hestia said you needed my help." Demeter tore her gaze away from Zeus and turned to look briefly at me nodding her head respectfully "My Queen" I didn't say anything back I just smiled.
"Demeter, thank you for coming. I need you to help Hestia guard and protect Ana's family and Apollo and Eileithyia who are at the hospital. They will explain everything, but right now we need to go visit Hades. Are you okay to do this?"
"Who am I protecting them from? And why are you going to see Hades?" Demeter looked much like her sister had at the mention of their brother. However, I noticed that Demeter spat out her brother's name showing me that she probably wasn't too fond of him.
"I don't have time to go into it, but you're protecting them from Hera and her army. I'm bringing our brother here to take Hera with him and to teach those helping her a lesson. Will you help, sister?"
"Yes. Of course. I'm going to presume that she is seeking revenge for being made mortal?" Demeter rolled her eyes as though Hera's behavior was a predictable inconvenience.
"Yes. That is exactly what has happened and she needs to be stopped." Zeus was beginning to sound impatient at having to answer Demeter's questions but I was happy with the delay because I really didn't want to have to go to Tartarus.
"Brother, I am only going to say this once. So, please hear me. If you bring Hades back here with you, I will not be in his company. It will be up to you to make sure that he is nowhere near me." Zeus agreed but I couldn't help but wonder what had happened between them for her to be so angry when she spoke of Hades.
"I doubt he will be coming back here, right away. You know he doesn't like to leave Tartarus if he doesn't need to, but if he does, I will keep him away from you. I give you, my word."
"Okay, thank you. Now take me to Apollo and Eileithyia." I had noticed that Demeter wasn't as warm or as friendly as her sister was because she had still not acknowledged the others in the room, which I found a little worrying.
Demeter walked over to Zeus who was now standing after he had placed Pythia on the seat leaning down to kiss her.
Zeus took Demeter's hand and left, and after a few minutes he was back with Christian, and my stomach dropped, knowing it was time for us to leave. I had to admit this was the only time I could honestly say I was not happy to see Christian.
"Are you both ready?" I nodded reluctantly as Zeus placed his hand on my shoulder. "Prepare yourself. We will be going directly to Tartarus and you will see things that may shock you. Just remember that the beings down there all deserve their punishments. So, as barbaric and horrific as things may seem it's completely justified. Those down there are the worst of the worst."
I held onto Christian's hand tightly needing him to give me the courage I so desperately needed. "Okay Let's get this over with." Zeus smiled at me as we shimmered out of the room leaving all my loved ones behind.
I had closed my eyes when we had shimmered out but when I felt a sudden warmth on my skin, I opened them slowly knowing we had arrived in Tartarus. When I looked around, I stepped closer to Christian as thunder and lightning constantly cracked above us in the fiery red sky.
When I could no longer look at the terrifying sky above me I looked down to see that the floor appeared black and burnt, with massive cracks and craters that had red flames coming out of them.
Creatures screamed and flew above and around us catching my attention and I shuddered at the size of them. Not to mention how utterly terrifying the winged creatures looked.
I tore my eyes away from them to take in the rest of where we were and noticed what appeared to be people tied to poles that lined a pathway to a massive, incredibly creepy castle.
When I continued taking in our surroundings, I noticed that we seemed to be on the top of a huge mountain but we weren't close enough to see over the edge which if I was honest, I was very thankful for and not because of how high up we were because let's face it when you can fly height isn't that scary anymore but I dreaded what would be down at the bottom of this mountain.
I turned my gaze back to the figures tied to the poles and when I looked closer, I could see that they looked charred, with smoke coming off their bodies like they had been recently on fire. I could also see that they were not tied to the post as I originally thought but they were impaled on it, and I was horrified.
Zeus stepped into my view and gave me a second to calm myself now that the impaled bodies were no longer in my view that was until I realized where we had to go.
"This way, my Queen. We don't want to be down here longer than we have to. I have never been a fan of this place. It's too dark and dreary for me." Zeus started to walk off toward the pathway and I jumped when he stepped onto the path, and I heard chilling screams as the first two bodies on either side suddenly burst into flames.
I had thought that they were dead but I was now realizing that they were all still alive. I kept my eyes forward as each body burst into flames with every step we took, and the smell became almost too overwhelming to continue.
Had I still been human I would for sure be throwing up right now.
We finally reached the massive black doors that were covered in what looked like burnt bones making me cringe and almost gag. Zeus pushed the doors hard, opening them, and stood in front of both Christian and I as if protecting us from something, and I soon became aware of what it was when I saw a massive dog with three heads and red glowing eyes running towards us.
"Cerberus, heel!" Zeus's voice sounded so loud as it echoed around the massive entrance. The dog stopped running and the two heads at the side stretched out to look at me and Christian as they growled and snapped at us with drool hanging from their deadly-looking teeth.
Zeus turned to face us, noticing the look of shock on my face at the sight of the giant demonic dog in front of us. "Pay the beast no mind, Ana. He won't hurt you. They value their lives too much and know they would never win in a fight with us."
"No, he wouldn't, brother, but if you harmed my dog, you wouldn't walk out of here unharmed." A man with dark brown wavy hair and a matching long beard walked toward us, wearing a long black toga with black sandals.
"Hades, now, you know I would never hurt your pet but I will defend myself, as will My Queen and her husband." Hades looked confused at what Zeus had just said and it was then that I realized that he likely didn't know about me.
"How is she your Queen? And if indeed she is, then how is she married? And to Lucifer of all beings. She is very beautiful. I would think you would take her for yourself, I know I would." He was looking at me like I was a snack and it made my skin crawl, and I had to squeeze Christian's hand tight when I heard him growl clearly hating the way Hades was looking at me as much as I did.
"I made her my Queen after my wife Hera killed her. She is now not only the Queen of the Gods and protector of the humans; she is also the Queen of Hell. You would have known this if you paid more attention to what was happening in the worlds above this place, or even if you paid attention to the new prisoners that are sent here. They recently sent you two new ones."
Hades shrugged his shoulders. "I don't waste my time on such matters. That is what the keeper is for, or Charon. They bring the condemned here, not me. If there are any problems, they will inform me. Otherwise, I don't need to know. So, how is Hera dealing with her punishment? I can't imagine her being very happy now that she is no longer your Queen. She has always had quite the temper."
"No, she isn't happy at all because not only is Ana now My Queen she also stripped Hera of her powers, and made her mortal. Hera is actually the reason we are here." Hades hadn't taken his eyes off me the whole time he and Zeus spoke and it was making me want to turn and leave.
"It would be easier if you opened your mind so that I may see for myself what's been happening. Perhaps, the lovely Ana will open hers to me so that I can see for myself why you are here." I was becoming pissed off now with how disrespectful he was being to not just me but my husband.
I let go of Christian's hand and stepped around Zeus ignoring the dogs that were now sitting at Hades' feet, still growling. "I won't be opening my mind to anyone other than my husband. So, I would appreciate it if you would show him some respect."
Hades was smiling at me with a look in his eyes that made me uncomfortable and I was beginning to think this had been a terrible idea.
"She has fire. I like that a lot. You chose well brother. If only you had found her before Lucifer did. She could have replaced Hera in every way." Christian caught my attention as he growled before stepping forward but before he could do anything Zeus stopped him shaking his head and telling him without words not to go any further.
"Hades, brother, Ana is right. Enough of the innuendos. She and her husband deserve more respect than that." Hades finally looked away from me to look at his brother frowning.
"What happened to you? I remember the days when you would just take what you wanted with no regard for others. Now you are giving in to a woman's request to be left alone. You shock me, brother."
He looked back at me dragging his eyes down my body making me glad I'd had the good sense when I found out we would be coming here to change into black jeans and a black top hiding most of my body and I was unbelievably grateful that arriving here hadn't brought out my other for like Hell had.
The only thing I didn't like about what I was wearing was the fact that the jeans were tight, so it showed all of my curves. Curves that he was staring at like he wanted to devour me.
"Brother, we are here to seek your help. Not to talk about my past or to objectify My Queen and disrespect her husband. Nor do we have time for this. Hera has assembled an army of my offspring and their offspring to exact revenge on Ana and her family."
"Why do you need me? I am sure you can take care of the situation without me. So, what help are you expecting?" I had moved over to Christian to ease his anger at the way Hades was still looking at me.
"We can win the fight. That's not in question, but I thought you would be a good person to have on our side, to scare those who are helping Hera, to make sure they never do this themselves. They are all facing the same fate as their mother did, so they will all be losing their powers and you can imagine they will all be out for revenge. What we have planned will stop them. I don't want to kill them if it can be helped. Though I have no doubt there will be some lives lost. I promise you, brother, if you do this, you will be rewarded."
"What could you possibly give me that I can't get myself?" I shivered when he smiled at me.
"Once My Queen ends Hera's life you can bring her soul back here with you, to face the punishment you feel she deserves. Seeing you do that and knowing that will be their fate will stop any thoughts of revenge. That is all I need from you, brother."
Hades had now moved his gaze back to Zeus as a wicked smile played on the corner of his mouth. "You would let me bring your wife here for me to play with? You know that she will not be given any leniency just because she is our sister."
"I am no longer concerned with what happens to Hera. Do with her as you please. Are you in or out brother?"
"I'm in!" I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that we would be leaving soon now that we had our answer.
"Good. We will be going now. I will keep you informed of when you are needed. It was good seeing you, brother." Zeus turned to walk away prompting Christian and I to do the same when we were stopped by Hades' loud voice.
"Not so fast. I'm coming with you. I am intrigued to see if the reason for your change is your beautiful Queen or if it's something or perhaps someone else."
"Hades, with all due respect, you have made it perfectly clear in an incredibly disrespectful way, to both Ana and her husband what you think about Ana's beauty. You cannot expect them to now let you stay in their home. I understand that you are helping us and we are very grateful but that is going too far." Zeus had stepped closer to Hades now and I was beginning to think they were going to start fighting.
"I never said that I would be staying, so calm yourself. I simply want to come with you for a short while. Surely you wouldn't deny me that after coming here for my help." The way he spoke made it perfectly clear that if we said no then it wouldn't end well.
"We have a full house, so you may join us for a short while but we don't have room for you to stay any longer than that, sorry," I spoke calmly hating the words I was saying but knowing that if we wanted to get back to our lives, we needed him.
I was tired of hiding and waiting for Hera and her army to come for us. I knew that if it wasn't for all of the children and the danger that we faced the adults would be out hunting for Hera, but we couldn't do that with the kids. It was impossible.
"Why thank you, Ana, and I promise I will not overstay my welcome." I hated the fact that he would only speak to me and not acknowledge my husband.
I refused to say anything to Hades. I just turned around holding onto Christian and started to walk away "You can leave from in here. I am sure you don't want to walk past the souls burning outside again." I looked up at Zeus wanting to know why we hadn't just shimmered in here instead of outside in the first place.
Zeus must have seen the confusion on my face because he was smiling and shaking his head. "Hades has made sure that no one, not even I can just shimmer in here. We can, however, shimmer out." Okay, that made sense. I looked from Zeus to Hades who was staring at my hand that was being held tightly by Christian, and when I turned my gaze to Christian, I found him watching Hades like he wanted to kill him.
"Okay, we need to go. I want this day to be over." Zeus walked over to Hades and put one hand on his shoulder, and the other on mine and we left, thankfully leaving the beast of a dog behind.
A few seconds later we appeared in our villa and my heart sank when I saw that the twins were awake and sat crying on Pythia and Beal's laps.
"What happened?" Christian spoke in a panicked voice as he and I each reached for the twins who were running towards us with their arms stretched out desperate to be picked up.
"The wards went off just after you left. We have looked around but we can't find anyone who could have set them off, and the sound of them going off woke the children up. Izzy and Elliot have gone upstairs with the other children, but when you weren't here we couldn't calm the twins down. Aglaea arrived just after you left with something that will help Eileithyia heal faster. She also brought some things she thinks will change the wards, so that now not only will they make a sound when someone breaches them, they will also make it impossible to leave once they are in. Hestia has gone to see if she can get a sense of who was here. She should be back soon."
My mom was walking over to me as she spoke before hugging me. "Hi, honey. Are you okay? I'm so glad you're back."
"I'm okay, mom. I promise. I just wasn't expecting this when we got back. Christian, we need to take the twins up and get them settled." I looked over at him with my back still to Hades, hoping Christian would see how desperate I was to get the twins away from Hades.
"I agree, baby. Let's go." Christian grabbed my hand and shimmered straight out of the room, and when we entered the twin's room, we sat down on Abigail's bed holding them until they calmed down.
After a few minutes, the twins finally sat up looking at us both with red eyes and tear-stained cheeks. "Mommy, where did you go? We tried to bring you back but we couldn't and we got scared?" My heart broke when I heard the fear in my daughter's voice.
Christian leaned forward to kiss the top of Abigail's head and then did the same to Theo who was looking at his sister like he would do anything to stop her pain. "We had to go somewhere, to speak to someone. We didn't mean to scare you, sweetheart. Please don't be sad, okay. We are here now so you can go back to sleep because I promise you, we aren't going anywhere else tonight."
"Okay, daddy. We just don't like it when we can't find you." Theo sounded exhausted and was rubbing his eyes with his little fists as he spoke. Christian and I stood up still holding the twins and pulled the covers back on Abigail's bed knowing that they would want to cuddle up to each other instead of sleeping alone.
"Okay, close your eyes and snuggle down. We don't want you worrying anymore. We're home and we aren't going anywhere. We love you so much." I smiled down at our children and my heart swelled with the love I felt for them.
Leaning down we kissed the twins and got them comfortable before we shimmered back down to the front room.
When we arrived in the front room, I looked at the time to see that it was now way after two in the morning and all I wanted to do was go to bed and be alone with my husband but we still had Hades to deal with and I had a feeling this was going to be a long night.