Chapter 26

KHLOE GILES

“Run that first line by me again?” I stood against the back wall of the club. We’d moved a black board to it and a crowd had gathered around. Together we were working to decode the message.

“Dark and Light fight for Being.” Keith called out and I wrote the phrase on the black board.

“Obviously, your light and Hades is darkness.” My mom said.

I wrote our names over the words, circling ‘light’ and ‘dark’.

“Okay what’s the next phrase?” I asked, marking the board.

“Only one can sustain the heart.” Keith read.

“What the hell does that mean?” I asked, pulling back and rereading the words.

“I don’t know, maybe it’s one of those ‘two can’t survive’ type things. You and Hades can’t survive in the same place and blah, blah, blah. Very…Harry Potterish.” Scotty huffed. He was sitting on a table, Wes on the chair beside him. Keith made a noise of agreement.

“Who’s Harry Potter?” I asked, looking back at him. He rolled his eyes.

“No one important.” Keith shook his head.

“What’s the next line?” I asked turning back to the blackboard.

“But His end shall be his beginning, the Dark King shall fall into the hands of the one he loves.” Keith read..

“We can assume that the ‘his’ is Hades.” Wes said.

“But what does that mean ‘his end shall be his beginning.” I read the phrase as I wrote the words.

“Beats me.” Keith shrugged and everyone else shook their head.

“What if it means that what he started fighting for is the thing that will kill him?” Scotty suggested, looking up.

“What is that?” My mom asked.

“Love.” Scotty answered.

My sister groaned. “Oh please!”

“What?” Everyone looked at her.

“C’mon. This isn’t going to be one of those god-awful B movies is it?” She asked, rolling her brows.

“Tales of the Greek gods and their fortunes and misfortunes used be to poetry.” Keith said, sitting up, “Stories were told for generations. They were worshiped. Even after the Burnings they were worshiped. They inspired romance, inspiration, courage and hope and the stories are real. They aren’t there for you to stick your nose up at.”

“Alright, alright. I’m sorry.” Sara threw her hands up, “Continue. Tell us the story of this great love.”

Many, many moons ago Olympus was ruled by the Titan’s powerful and cruel gods who would have destroyed all of Gaia. Zeus over threw them and when he did so, he and his two brothers, Poseidon and Hades became rulers. They drew lots to see who would get what, divided by sky, air, and the underworld. Hades got the shortest straw, which meant presiding over the underworld. The realm of Hades is different from the realms of the sky and seas. It is a realm bound by rules more ancient and powerful than the gods. Hades not only presided over the realm, but he was also bound to serve it. All the souls entrapped in the underworld cannot be bound to Hades unless he kept constant supervision.

“For this, Hades was unforgiving and for many, many years refused to speak to his brothers. By the rules of his realm, he was only allowed to come on Olympus once a year when the winter Solstice came. For many years Hades remained angry, until one day, as he was wondering the earth, looking for souls to carry to the underworld, he came upon a beautiful maiden. Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. The sister of Hecate and Selene. He was immediately entranced by the young goddess, though he knew Demeter would never allow Persephone to be his.

“So Hades went to Zeus, begged him for mercy. He told his brother that he would be content in his position if he had just one thing, the love of Persephone. So Zeus agreed, concocting a plan that would allow Hades to carry Persephone back to the Underworld. Of course it wasn’t long before Demeter realized her daughters kidnapping, went into a rage. Winter fell heavily upon the earth and nearly killed the entire human race. In attempt to save Earth and appease Demeter, Zeus punished Hades, forbidding him from ever joining Olympus again and brought Persephone home. However, Persephone had truly fell in love with Hades, despite the way they had first met and wished to remain with her husband.

“To appease both, Zeus proposed that Persephone spend half the year at home with Demeter and half the year with Hades. Persephone lived on the earth for six months with her mother, during spring time, and six months in hell with her husband during what would become known as winter.” By the time Keith finishes telling the story, we are all gathered around, hanging on his every word.

“Then what?” Sara asked curiously.

Keith shrugged. “That’s the end of the legend.”

“That’s the end?” Sara huffed, “That doesn’t explain anything. Why is Hades falling off the rails? What happened to Persephone?”

“Don’t know that part of the story, but obviously something.” Keith shrugged.

“Actually we might.” Scotty sat up. “After the government shutdown that followed the Uprisings, some archaeological diggers found some old scribes in an ancient part of Greece, Mostly undisturbed. They were destroyed shortly after the Inquisition government was put in place, but lucky for you guys. I have photographic memory.”

“So spill.” Sara ordered, leaning forward to listen.

“Okay, so the legend continues that while Persephone was content with the six-month plan, her family wasn’t, and her mother and siblings have been warring with Hades ever since. A few years ago, that war turned dark. Hecate sent warriors into the Underworld after Persephone with orders to kill anyone who got in their way. The warriors failed in their task and the result ended in Persephone’s death. Or so to speak. Gods and goddess can’t actually be killed.”

“I remember you telling me about this before, but what happens to a severely wounded god?” I asked curiously.

“Their spirits break, and they have to find vessels.” Scotty explained.

“Vessels as in plural?” I asked curiously, “How many vessels do they need?”

“Sara, do you remember the very first vision you had?”

“Yeah. It went something like….the sisters three awake the Spirit’s slumber, the lost one rises from within.” Sara quoted.

“Okay so, obviously we’re the three sisters. Persephone is the spirit and the lost one.” I said, writing the notes on the black board as I go.

“She rises from within what?” My mom asked.

“Within us? I don’t know.” I shook my head, “Is that even possible?””

“It’s all possible. This is magic. Anything can happen.” Keith said, nodding.

“Okay. So the war began over Persephone.” I made the notes on the blackboard, “Which means that the war will end with her return, and we have to be the ones to bring her back.””

“All three of us. Which means we need Abbey.” Sara nodded in agreement.

“But that’s good right? It means she doesn’t die?” My mom asked, sitting up.

“Yes.” I agreed, “Which means we need to get her out of HQ soon.”

“There are things much worse than death and most of them are in HQ.” Scotty said, grimacing.

“Hades is the King of hell. Of course that means that he’s probably going to know how to torture people to get what he wants.” Wes said.

“Which is why we have to stop him.” I said, “Keith, what is the next part of the verse?”

“At his death, the world will fall into Chaos.” Keith quoted.

“That’s easy.” My dad spoke up, “Hades is currently the leader of the free world. The only leader. So of course, when we kill him, the world is going to go in to a state of chaos until a new government is in place.”

“And that’s where we come in.” My mom agreed, “We can stay. Help set up the next government until it is safe for you girls to come back.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, a sense of worry filling me. I didn’t like the idea of the family being split up.

“Yes. I’m positive.” Mom nodded and dad agrees.

“I’ll stay with them. Make sure they survive.” Scotty piped in. I offered him a thankful smile.

“Okay, next line.”

“And the Children shall return from wince they Came guarded by the bearers of the First Light, Until the time of Peace reigns again.” Keith quoted the last three lines.

“Okay let’s start with Children.” I said, writing the words down and circling Children, “That’s obvious. Witches. Magical creatures. Yada, yada. From wince they Came. Anyone have any ideas?”

“Avalon.” Keith and Scotty said together.

“You two are kind of starting to scare me.” I informed them, shaking my head, “What is Avalon exactly?”

“It’s the birth place of magic. Of witches.” Keith answered. “It’s where we all began. Where the sword of Excalibur itself was welded.”

“Actually that makes sense Khloe. Remember my second vision? The sword will rebirth from its beginnings and rise to be the Destroyer.” Sara quoted, “So if you go to Avalon, Excalibur will gain the strength to destroy Hades once Persephone is alive.”

‘His end shall be his beginning.” Keith quoted, “Persephone won’t kill him but will make him weak enough for you to kill him.”

“But first we have to find Avalon.” I pointed out, “And the fairies and save my sister from a fate worse than death.”

“Eh, we’ve faced worse.” Sara grinned at me.

“Oh yeah? When?” I asked, grinning back.

“I’m sure there’s, y’know. Something worse than this.” Sara shrugged.

“You did die once.” Keith pointed out.

“Good point, that was a little awkward.” I agreed.

“You died?” My mom asked, wide eyed.

“Yeah, but I didn’t stay dead. It was only for like….a day and half.”

“We were fighting…well, I guess now we know we were fighting witches” Sara explained “Nasty little suckers. Very dangerous.”

“Almost destroyed the world.” Keith agreed.

“Still not as bad as the devil himself.” I mused.

“I agree, devils much worse.” Keith nodded.

“So now we just need a plan. I’m great at those.” I turned back to the board.

“Well then let’s hear it.” Scotty snorted.

“Okay, Sara, Keith, you guys work on figuring out where the fairies are and how to talk to them.” I order.

“Easy peasy.” Keith nodded in agreement.

“Scotty, Wes. We’re going to need weapons. Lots of them. Magical and non-magical. We’re not only going up against Hades, but his armies. I want enough weapons to make sure our side is secure. Mom, dad, I want you guys to start making preparations for after the war. We’re going to need people to take care of wounded and any and all scenarios.

“Dad, have Elona put out a call for all witches to meet here. Organize them into three groups. Offensive, defensive and medical. We’re going in to war. We need to act like soldiers.”