Chapter 18

Christian

Arriving back home the children were all giddy with excitement at not just with what they had seen Ana do but about the fact that they all had more powers and they were excited to see what they could now do. I watched with amusement as they sat on the lawn with toys that they glamoured, as the twins showed them how to make them dance.

I looked around to see some of the adults looking mesmerized by the dancing toys when Elliot came to stand next to me. "Do you never get scared about how powerful the twins are?" I looked at Elliot, who was watching the twins with a frown on his face.

"I don't get scared about how powerful they are or how powerful they will become as they get older. I get more frustrated at not knowing what powers they will have, and seeing their eyes glow like Ana's did was something I hadn't expected. I know now that they have a lot of Ana's powers and that mixed with mine I have no doubt that they are going to be incredibly powerful and with that kind of power comes enemies. That's what scares me. Why do you ask?"

Elliot turned to face me with a serious expression replacing his frown. "Now that Izzy and I are the king and Queen of Lust, which by the way sounds insane when I say it out loud." He laughed and shook his head before carrying on.

"Now that we are who we are, I worry about how powerful the children will become. We have seen so many beings that have so much power become corrupted, and I just worry that will happen to the children. I don't want to lose them. I don't want their magic to become corrupted or them corrupt them."

I could hear the fear and worry in Elliot's voice, so I tried to ease his mind. "Elliot, you have to understand, that the one thing our children have that the beings we have punished, and those that have yet to be punished is the love of a stable, healthy, happy family. It's why I picked you and Izzy to take over Asmodeus's role. You are grounded, and you have each other as support. You will both be there to pull your children back into place if they get out of line. I know your children will not be corrupted because you and Izzy and the rest of us will not allow it. That is something these other beings never had. They never had discipline or stability and in some cases, they never had parents, let alone a family. Look around at all the people that are here to help, love and protect our children. With that kind of support we have nothing to worry about."

Elliot was looking around his smile growing as he watched all the adults sat around the children clapping and cheering each time they made a toy dance. Elliot slapped me on the back laughing a little as Mia squealed in delight as she made her Barbie and Barbie's horse come alive.

"You're right brother. I am so glad you and Ana found each other. No matter what difficulties we face I am so grateful for everything that you have given us."

Elliot walked over to where Izzy was and picked her up, placing her on his lap so they could both watch the children play. I was standing, leaning on the door watching my family laughing at the excitement of the children when I felt arms wrap around my waist.

"Hey, baby, why are you standing here all alone?" I looked down to see my stunning wife smiling up at me. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, leaning down to kiss her softly.

I loved how small and delicate she was, because it brought out the primal need to protect her even though I knew for sure she didn't need it.

"Hey beautiful, I was just watching our family and thinking about how lucky I am to have you. You and our babies are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I honestly can't imagine a life without you." Ana squeezed my waist and rested her head on my chest.

"You never have to imagine a life without us because we are not going anywhere. What's brought this on? Are you ok?"

"I was just talking to Elliot and he was worried about how powerful the children will become, he was concerned that their power could corrupt them. It made me think about something I saw today."

Ana was looking at me with a confused expression on her stunning face. "What did you see?"

"The twin's eyes glowed the same golden light as yours. They watched you glowing when I and everyone else had to shield our eyes. I don't know what powers they have or how strong they will be. I'm not used to not knowing what's happening around me or with those who are in my life." I shrugged my shoulders pulling my gaze from Ana to look at the twins again.

"It doesn't matter what powers they have as long as they are happy and healthy. We knew they would be powerful and that they would share powers from both of us, so give it time baby. We will learn what they are capable of eventually. Right now, they are just babies. I know that you're not used to dealing with the unknown but I'm afraid in this instance you may have to just suck it up."

I looked down at Ana to see her smiling up at me before she winked and cuddled into me.

"I know you're right, kitten, but it doesn't mean it's not frustrating, though. We have a house full of oracles and seers, if only we could get them to show us what to expect." I laughing and could feel Ana laughing and agreeing with me.

Ana

Everyone had been sitting around watching the children for a few hours when it started to get dark, and the children started to get cranky, Huldah was feeding Liam while Ava sat next to her, stroking Liam's little head, looking like she was lost in thought.

"Ava, sweetheart, are you ok?" she looked up smiling at me.

"He's like me, did you know that?" I was confused about what she meant, and from the look on Huldah's face, so was she.

"What do you mean, honey?" Ava stroked Liam's head and when she looked up her eyes were white, and for a second Huldah and I panicked thinking something was wrong when Ava grabbed Huldah's hand and Huldah's eyes started to swirl.

I couldn't do anything but reach over to take Liam out of Huldah's arms and watch them as Christian and Beal came in from the garden each carrying two children that were crying and struggling to get down.

When Beal saw Huldah, he placed Mia and Jamie down carefully before dropping onto his knees in front of Huldah, placing his hands on her knees. "What the fuck happened?" Beal looked almost frantic as he looked at me then back to Huldah.

"I don't know, Ava was stroking Liam's head when she said that Liam was just like her, then her eyes turned white, and when she grabbed Huldah's hand Huldah's eyes started swirling."

Once I finished explaining what little I knew, Huldah and Ava both came out of their vision smiling as tears rolled down her face.

"Baby, what happened? What did you see?" Beal sounded like he was hanging on to his patience by a thin thread.

"Ava showed me our son. He is just like Ava. He is an oracle. I saw him as a grown man. Beal, he is incredibly powerful. The power that he has is just like Ava's. They are amazing. The things that they will be capable of are nothing like this world has ever seen. While Ava will be Christian and Ana's oracle and sit by their side, his place will be by our side. Baby, he is amazing and so handsome. He looked so much like you, apart from the eyes, he has my eyes."

Huldah looked at Ava and squeezed her hand with tears still streaming down her face, before she reached over to take Liam back. Liam lay in her arms looking up at his mommy smiling as if he knew what she had just seen.

The room was silent as everyone took in what Huldah had just said, when Zeus walked in smiling at everyone and laughing with Pythia, and looked around the room, frowning at everyone's serious expressions.

"What did I miss? Why does everyone look so worried?" No one answered as we all kept staring at Huldah and Ava in awe.

"Who had the vision?" When I heard Pythia talk, I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Ava showed Huldah baby Liam when he is older." Pythia smiled before walking over to Ava, and held her hand out to Ava who placed her hand in Pythia's.

"May I see, sweetheart?" I was shocked that Ava was able to show others what she had seen, and part of me got excited at the thought that maybe Ava could show us all what she had seen, when Zeus spoke.

"Ava can't show you what she saw Ana, I'm afraid. She can only show other oracles and only certain visions can be shared between the oracles. So, as much as I would like to say she could show you what she has seen, unfortunately she can't."

I saw the disappointment on Beal's face knowing that he wouldn't be able to see his son.

Once Pythia and Ava came out of their vision and Ava reached for Beal's hand.

"Uncle Beal, I might not be able to show you the vision but I can draw him for you, would that make you feel better?" Beal grabbed Ava and pulled her in for a hug.

"If you can do that for me sweet girl, I would be forever grateful." I didn't think it was possible to love my niece any more than I already did but seeing how beautiful her soul was just made my heart melt, and considering what this little girl had gone through and the things she had seen, for her to still be as kind, sweet, giving and happy was mind-blowing to me.

Once Beal and Ava had finished hugging, Ava jumped up, grabbed her tablet and ran off to another room, which I presumed was so that she could start drawing the picture.

Once Ava left, Christian and I got the twins to bed as Elliot and Izzy took Jamie and Mia up to their room. It was very clear that most if not all us needed a nice stiff drink to relax us after the day we all had.

We walked back into the front room and sat down when Ava came in with a piece of paper and ran over to Beal and sat down next to him, handing him the paper. Beal looked down at it. Huldah gasped before tears started to flow. Feeling curious, I stood and made my way over to them to look at what Ava had drawn.

Standing beside Huldah I looked down at the paper and couldn't believe what I was seeing. The man in the picture was stunning. He had short black hair, tanned skin, and Huldah's beautiful purple eyes. He was smiling and was incredibly large but his eyes and smile made him look so kind even though he looked like he could demolish a tank with his bare hands.

"Is this my son?" Beal kept his shocked gaze on the picture he was holding.

"Yes, I told you he looks like you, he is so handsome. Ava, thank you so much, sweetheart, for giving us this picture. It means more than you will ever know." Huldah was wiping the tears away when Beal handed me the picture and reached out his hands for Huldah to hand his son over to him.

Ava stood up and leaned over to give Huldah a small hug before she excused herself to go and watch a movie in the other room. The picture was being handed around the room and I could see the emotion and pride on everyone's faces when they saw how handsome Liam was not to mention how incredible Ava's talent for art was.

"Huldah, Beal he is going to be a heart breaker when he is older, that's for sure." Beal beamed with pride at Apollo's words.

"Yeah, he is going to have a lot of attention from the ladies, just like his dad." Huldah moved out of Beal's arms and folded her arms across her chest looking pissed.

"I meant how I was, but that's not me anymore, not now that I have you, beautiful." Huldah huffed and sat back smiling a little, making Beal sigh with relief as he looked at Christian who was hiding his smile behind his hand.

I stood up walking back over to Christian as he handed me a drink that I took before leaning over to kiss him to say thank you when Pythia who had been sat on Zeus's knee watching everyone with amusement suddenly stood up grabbing everyone's attention.

She was clearly in the middle of a vision and the look on her face filled me with dread,

"It's almost time we have to get ourselves organized. The fight happens in two days. There are more people than we thought on Hera's side. I don't know who a lot of them are but I see those that Hebe told us would be there. Bring Demeter and Artemis back with Eileithyia. I'm sure she will be well enough now to leave the hospital after what Aglaea brought with her. If not, find out what she needs and get it for her so she can be taken care of here. They are coming for us and we need to be together. It's the only way we can make sure we are all safe." Zeus stood and shimmered out immediately.

My stomach dropped knowing that they would be coming for us in a few days. I wasn't scared for the fight; I just didn't want them to be anywhere near my children. "Can we not go to them? I don't want them coming here!"

"No, I can't see where they are. We know they are coming in two days, so we can ask Hestia and Demeter to take them somewhere safe." A few minutes later Zeus was back with Eileithyia, Demeter, and Artemis. Eileithyia still looked a little sore but a lot better than she had. Demeter was getting Eileithyia comfortable when the room started to fill up as those who were helping them showed up.

"Demeter, can I ask if you and Hestia would take our children and keep them safe for us when the fight happens? I don't want them near here when it begins, and I don't want them around Hades." At the mention of Hades' name, Demeter looked furious.

"I will take the children with Hestia. You're right not to have your children around him, he is not to be trusted. Keep that in mind because I can guarantee that the fight will not be the last time you see him. He is vicious and cruel and if he wants to get to you he will come for those you love, be prepared for that."

I couldn't think of what was going to happen with Hades right now, not when we had the fight looming over us. I could only handle one thing at a time.

"Where will you take them to keep them safe?"As long as I knew that they were safe I could breathe a sigh of relief.

"We will take them to my home. It's been guarded against trespassers since Hades stole my daughter from me. As you can imagine, I no longer trust many people, so my home is like a fortress, no one will get in there, I can promise you. The children will all be very safe there. We will also take Eileithyia with us as she is not well enough to fight with you. Until then, I suggest you all get some rest, trust me with what is coming your way, you will need all of your energy. Sleep all of you, Hestia and I will stay up and keep watch over you all."

At the mention of sleep, I suddenly felt exhausted and Demeter was right, we needed our energy for the fight.

"Thank you, Demeter and Hestia, I know I don't just speak for myself when I tell you how grateful we all are for your help."

Everyone around the room murmured their agreement to what I had just said as we said our goodnights.

The second Christian and I climbed into bed, he pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissed the top of my head. Neither of us spoke because we didn't need to, our expressions said all we needed to say.

We couldn't wait for this fight to be over with.