Chapter 149: You need a Siren

~Theron's POV~

I was in the temple doing my godly duties when a female fox Underworldlian summoned me. When I sniffed the air, I noticed she was a noble.

Noble Underworldlians are proud and hardly ever come to the temple to request anything for they believe the gods are myths but the common Underworldlians are not so.

So coming to the temple everyday to grant ten lucky desperate people desires is my favorite playtime hobby as a god that gets bored easily.

The prayers were urgent; a pull that meant someone closed to her needed divine intervention and they needed it now.

I got excited, I hardly do these days as such I didn't hesitate and to applaud her, she called me by my name. Gods rarely get called by name anymore, and when they do, it matters.

I arrived in Salvatore's palace in the form I wore when walking among Underworldlians; tall, silver-haired, salt colored eyes that carried the secrets of centuries.

The servants scattered when they saw me, which was expected by aura alone, anyone could tell I wasn’t ordinary.

I went in search of the Beast King, he was in his study looking anxious as if waiting for me with an Elenibaker descendant beside him.

Both of them looked like men who had learned something that broke their understanding of the world they existed in currently.

When the Beast King saw me, confusion flashed in his eyes which made me amused and then slowly recognition covered his face.

"Theron," Ragel said, standing immediately and bowing a little. "Thank you for coming."

I shrugged a little, this young man right here is one of the proudest beast kings I have ever encountered.

So him, using someone to summon me must be urgent. "You wouldn't have called unless it was critical," I waited while the Elenibaker descendant handed me scrolls.

I looked them in the eyes and read their minds to understand why I had been called. Of course, what I saw had been expected although not this soon.

I went back to the scroll and read them in silence.

The magic aura and the prophecy, all of it were marked where they were confused.

I knew what they had discovered before I finished the first passage because I've known Hades for thousands of years.

I have watched him rage against his seal, testing it constantly, looking for the one thing that might break it.

A blood moon born because what these creatures don't know is that it was a mere werewolf blood blessed by Selene that was seen as a blood moon child, it was what was used to seal him and what can redeem him from the abyss he is in.

I still feel that was a bad decision because now, here we are. Hades has been fishing for every moon blessed child to sacrifice to help him break his seal but none has worked until that child Arianna mother to the current blood moon child was used by Hades to unseal himself.

Thankfully, Selene had been too enraged for the killing of Arianna since she truly loved that child.

Because of what he and his minions did, he enhanced his curse with a more difficult hurdle that except a blood moon child falls in love with him, he can't be unsealed from the abyss.

Really, keeping that girl with him won't help him because killing her like he killed her mother won't set him free.

I sighed, all my excitement draining away. Hades always gave me a throbbing pulse of an incoming headache I couldn't get rid of.

When I looked up, both of them were watching me with the apt attention of men waiting for confirmation of their worst fears.

"It's who you think is responsible," I said, groggily. Feeling an incoming headache.

"Hades has been walking in your kingdom for months wearing the face of a mere Underworldlian."

"How is that possible?" Ragel's voice was strained. "I reinforced the seal on his realm myself decades ago like I was taught. No god can simply walk out of that especially when I used a lot."

"No god can," I said. "But Hades is very clever. He didn't break the seal. He wore it thin enough through the blood of one of Selene’s creatures so he can slip through in mortal form, which limits his power but doesn't eliminate it."

“ I don't understand. The seal, wasn't it given by the nine gods to protect us against him?” Ragel asked, looking torn apart.

Dang! I should have minded my business like the other gods. I set the scrolls down.

"Yes, it was but you my boy might not understand but what I can tell you is Hades only used the blood once and once he was free in this realm, he could move without the seal noticing while his main body remained in the abyss."

Darius made a sound that was half curse "For how long has he been in our midst?"

"Long enough," I replied honestly. "And long enough to find a replacement of another Selene's child to use.”

Ragel's expression turned pale as if I just confirmed his worst fears. "She's a blood moon born."

"Yes," I said. "Lyra was born under a blood moon. It happens once every two and a half decades. The last blood moon born was seventy years ago which was Lyra’s mother. After he had her killed and he didn't get his freedom he began searching again until he found her.” I paused. "Your child will be born a blood moon as well. The power passes through the bloodline."

"What does that mean?" Darius asked, he looked scared, but it was for his friend as I read his mind. "What does he want with someone who's blood moon born?"

I stood and walked to the window, looking out at Salvatore's palace grounds. This was the part they wouldn't want to hear.

"There is a prophecy and a curse placed by Selene after the death of Arianna. It states that only through the union of a god and a blood moon born can an eternal seal be broken." I turned back to face them. "Hades has been sealed in the abyss realm for three thousand years. He's spent three thousand years planning for when he could break that seal."

Ragel's hands formed fists at his sides.

"How much time do we have?" he asked. He was shaking even though he was trying to get himself back.

"The blood moon rises in six weeks," I said. "When it reaches its height, Lyra's power will be at its strongest. That's when Hades will probably attempt the ritual. It's also when he'll try to use her to break the seal completely by mating with her."

"C-can he do that?" Darius asked.

"Yes," I said. There was no point lying. "If he completes the ritual before the blood moon passes, the seal breaks. Hades will be free. Fully free. Not just able to slip through in mortal form; actually free to walk your world with all his power intact."

"And if we stop him?" Ragel asked. "If we reach her before the ritual completes?"

"Then the seal holds and stays forever," I said. "But you have to reach her. You have to get to the abyss realm and stop him before the blood moon peaks."

Ragel walked to the table and gripped the edge of it hard enough that the wood cracked slightly. "How do we get to the abyss realm?"

"There are ancient gates," I suggested. "They exist in the space between your world and his. But only a god can open them and it must be only during specific celestial alignments can they be opened safely."

"When is the next alignment?" Darius asked. They were asking the right questions so I might as well help them.

"In six weeks," I responded, nodding. "When the blood moon rises. The gates will open for exactly one night. After that, they seal again for another thousand years."

Ragel looked at me. "So we have to breach Hades' realm on the night of the blood moon while he's at his strongest."

"Yes," I said.

"That's insane," Darius said.

"It is," I agreed. "But it's also your only option. You can't reach her any other way. The abyss realm exists outside normal space. Only the gates grant access."

"What happens if we try to breach his realm?" Ragel asked. "What happens when we cross into a god's world?"

"You'll have hours before he knows you're there," I said. "The realm is vast. But he'll know eventually. And when he does, you’ll all be doomed except of course, you have a siren with you which I found your kind have killed odf5." I paused.

"Gods above! Sirens were being fed on before we came into power so how are we supposed to win when we don't have one?" Darius asked.

"Uhm… the good part is you're not supposed to win," I said, scratching realizing I wasn't making any sense.

"What I mean is, you're supposed to survive. You're supposed to reach the center of his realm where the power source exists. And you're supposed to destroy it before the blood moon peaks."

I am certainly going to be punished by Siofra for revealing too much but a god can't turn his back on those who yearn for them.

Siofra will understand hopefully.

"What power source are you talking about?" Ragel asked.

"It's an anchor crystal," I said. "It's what holds Hades' magic in place, and what keeps the realm stable. Destroy it with the blood of a Siren and that of a blood moon child and his control weakens like a mere human. Also the realm becomes unstable. You'll have forty minutes at most to escape before it collapses completely."

Ragel went quiet for a long moment, thinking. For them to be this calm with all the information I have given, I was impressed.

"Who do we take?" he asked finally.

"Your strongest warriors," I said, pointing to the beside him. "You must take take the Elenibakers descendant without question, if they are with you, the god Siofra might protect you because she wouldn't any harm to come to a descendant that has her form; and you must take the lady that summoned me, she can summon gods because of her beautiful mind and then you must take a Siren.”

They looked at each other on the last part because getting a Siren won't be easy but the good thing is they have one.

I smiled and began to leave, not without leaving them a clue. “ Take Garius' wife with you, and everything will work out for you.”

They still looked confused but they nodded and left hoping for the best for them. I have meddled enough until they call for me again.

“ I wish you all luck on your mission because it won't be an easy one.”