《Tartaros》


 Chapter 1 - Edan

    I was completely fucked. I really don''t know how else I could describe my current situation. I couldn''t move anywhere, I was surrounded on every side of the house and I had no way to escape. I could only hide like a coward.


    Why was I even here? The only thing I wanted to do right now was perhaps the best plan I had in my head right now: I wanted to sink underground and live happily ever after as a mole person. However, I couldn''t give up, no matter how much I wanted to. I couldn''t leave Sonia behind.


    She should be here with me. She was my partner. We had to do this silly task together, using a plan that we did ourselves. However, we were idiots, and we did one thing that the teacher warned us not to do. We lost each other. I wanted to say that we did it on purpose, but the reality was that we both ran into two different buildings to hid and only realized inside the house that we were not following each other. Now that the lights of the flashlights were visible from the window in front of me a little at a time, I regretted that mistake so much.


    It was clear that I was closer to death than completing a mission. However, I was too stubborn to die. I had to listen to too many boring lectures about some parts of the guns and other futilities to die in ten minutes because some guard had a lamp.


    All of a sudden, I heard a strange scream from behind the window. It was a sound that no animal could let out. Hell, my time is running out. I was every moment I didn''t move closer to death. I slowly got up at the corner where I had tried to calm myself down so I wouldn''t have a nervous breakdown in a place like this, and I sneaked in the direction of the window, looking around nervously at the same time.


    I cursed myself once again when I realized where I had left my pistol. My silver and gold pistol shone right in the middle of the room. Why did Milo have come up with a weapon for me that shone in the glow of the light? Well, at least it looked great.


    My cursing sounded like a prayer, but I didn''t figure out anything else that I could do. I counted slowly to three and ran fast through the light, grabbing the pistol. Then I slided next to the window, breathing heavily. As I calmed down, I checked the cartridges in my gun and Milo''s special cartridges in my pocket. All saved.I tried to remember in my head the three most important rules of the scout because I didn''t want to listen to my mother scould me about them once more if I survived this in one piece. I had already checked the cartridges, so it was left to look out and evaluate the best possible route without the bad people seeing me.


    The streets looked empty, but in this light I couldn''t be absolutely sure. All the houses looked exactly the same as the other ones. I only checked the locations of the guards. There were three, maybe four guards on the street and the house in front of me had two guards on different floors. I didn''t know if this was surprisingly easy or I thought too much of myself.


    Just as I was turning away from the window, I saw more than just lights and guards. A dark shadow flashed on the fourth floor of the house in front of me. A small smile spread across my face. I recognized that pile of hair anywhere. Sonia always showed up at the right time.


    The shadow seemed to notice me too. She stopped right next to the window and waved at me. I tried to do the same, but the lights of the guards went just past me so that I just avoided being seen.


    I couldn''t stop self piting me. Our mission was so simple, I was so sure we would survive this record time. All we had to do was get a folder with a picture of a snake on it. We won''t have time to find the folder anymore, so I guess I had decided to stand beside the window self-pity and cry so hard that if Mom heard it, she would force me to train with her again.


    It was because of him that we were even here. Evalyn Carlyssa Roseblood. Medusa, the liberator of Tartarus and one of the Gorgos, the legendary fighters of the rebellion. I could list everything she''s done, but I don''t want to remind myself how big of theshoes are that I have to fill. Every person in little Tartarus adores my mother, their own leader and war hero. She drove out the people of I.C.T.A and Ashphodea who ruled us and has kept them outside for 15 years. She and the other Gorgos are like gods... I am just a boy though, no matter how my mother tries to make me her next in line. I live and die as a disappointment of a goddess, a bastard child of a legend.


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    I paused my self pity for a moment when I noticed a silver hook clinging to the window frame. Luckily, I thought quickly and grabbed the hook so it wouldn''t come off. At the same time, I looked forward. I couldn''t really believe my eyes. An 18-year-old girl who couldn''t help but scream a little because of the pace was flying through the air with the help of the rope. I couldn''t help but smile.


    Sonia Henriksson flew in to the room, almost hitting the guard''s head below her. He slammed into the floor right in the middle of the room, pulling me with him. There she was. My dear non-biological sister, and the only person I want to do tasks like this with. Yes, we are never getting anything done, but I would rather fail completely than do tasks with a boring rule follower.


    Sonia was once brains to my impulsivity. Sonia and her uncle had a opposite relationship than me and my mom. She has always wanted to follow her uncle''s footsteps ja study weaponry.Milo was weapon maker and inventor. Everyone feared what the Gorgons inventor Stheno would invent next. No-one else could be as great of a follower to Stheno than Sonia.


    "Best entrance ever", I said laughing. We both slowly stood up. "Are you okay?"


    "I''m alive, aren''t I? Did you miss me?" Sonia signed. Sonia sneaked towards the window, waiting for me to do the same. Looking at Sonia was kind of funny. Even tough Sonia was four years older than me, she looked so young. She was extreamly short, and her baby face made her look cute even the most threatening situations. Also her giant curly hair made her look like a troll.Honestly, Sonia''s appearance was more of a blessing than a curse. I don''t even remember how many times people have underestimated her just because of how she looks. Look on people''s faces are priceless.


    When i looked at Sonia, i finally noticed the shoes she was wearing. They were knee lenght boots, and honestly kind of ugly. Weirdest thing about them was that one of the shoes had a heel and other one was flat.


    I sneaked next to Sonia and poked her in the elbow. "What''s with the shoes?"


    "Milo and I have been desigining these for the past couple of months. These heels could pierce even metal, and they are removable." Sonia signed so excited I had hard time understanding her. "You can use the heel as a dagger. It has so many other-"


    Sonia''s explanation stopped when I started hearing noise under us. When we looked outside, we saw more guards coming toward the house we were in. They had heard Sonia. We were doomed.


    Slowly though, I could see an idea forming in Sonia''s head. "Why are we hiding anymore? We lost already. Only thing we can do is to use our imagination." Even tough Sonia signed like she had a concussion, her idea sounded way too tempting. Why couldn''t we just have fun? We are going to get yelled at either way. If we do something crazy, at least there would be a chance people would talk about that and not the utter fail we had.


    "If you fix your shoes, we can go." We both laughed. Sonia pressed a sign of Tartaros, a snake wrapped around a rose, which removed the heel from the show. Heel became a knife that was same size as my finger. So, we had a small knife and a pistol as our weapons. We were too stubborn to back down now.


    When we got downstairs, truth of our situation got really clear. There was maybe more than just couple of guards. There were dozens of guards coming closer to us. I swallowed all my fear inside me. We were blood relatives of Gorgos. We couldn''t be afraid.


    Out run out the door felt like it was slowed down. I shot two guards between the eyes. Sonia sliced one of the guys neck. We were amazing, but not that amazing that we could keep up with the amount of guards that were coming towards us.


    Sonia clearly saw, that I felt like panicing. She look around and took me by the hand. "Hold on tight."


    That was the last thing she signed before the ground under us dissappered. Of course Sonia and Milo would go over and beyond with their gadgets. If, for example, they make shoes for fighting, they also have to be rocket shoes.


    We landed in the roof of the house Sonia was. When we looked down, we noticed that the guards were just... punching air and moving around.


    Then I did something that I really want to say was a new thing for me, but it really wasn''t. I did something before thinking it through.


    We were dressed into our normal missioin clothes aka green pants and a tight shirt. I myself cut the shirt into a crop. I think it looked great, but mom didn''t like it, not that she didn''t think it was stylish. She just keeps saying that the stomach "is the most easiest target to attack." Well, what does she knows. She''s only an army leader and one of the leaders of a rebel town.


    in this moment, only thing I cared about was the belt, that had help we could pick ourselves before the mission. I had taken some special bullets and traqulation arrows, that aren''t useful at this moment. Sonia on the other hand, i knew she would have something useful knowing Henrikssons. Henrikssons loved explosions with their whole heart.


    I took off Sonia''s belt and threw it off the building. Sonia didn''t even have time to object. I quickly adjusted my stance and shot at the belt before the belt hit the ground. Every guard under us disappeared in the explosion. One of our problems was gone.


    My happiness didn''t last long. I didn''t realize that the explosion would be that big. Yes, we didn''t have to worry about the guards anymore, but I have created a new problem: the building was collapsing. Cerberus. We could only look at eachother before we were starting to fall off the building. Sonia turned her rocket shoes on just in time, but I didn''t have that good of a luck. Sonia tried to take me by the hand, but she was too late. At least I looked good while I was falling to my death.


    To my suprise, I didn''t die. I couldn''t move, but I didn''t die. i lied in the ground eyes open. The building was slowly falling towards me. At least this was over soon. I didn''t have the motivation to do anything else but to smile and curse my mom and everyone else why I was there.


    All of a sudden, Sonia landed on top of me and started looking at something from her sleeves. Under her sleeves was two almost arm lenght bracelets that had stick on one of them. I didn''t understand at all what she was doing. She could finish the mission all by herself. She didn''t need me.


    Sonia removed the stick from the bracelet and tried to do something I didn''t see. Whatever she was doing, it wasn''t enough. The house fell atop of us. Last thing I saw was my least favorite thing. Those red letters:


    Mission failed. Try again.

 Chapter 2 - Edan

    I got my sight back suprisingly well. I will never get used to this. I  massaged the spots our training clothes stimulated pain. Milo really shouldn''t make these little less traumatizing. Well, the more traumatizing part comes when I have to talk to Serena.


    I looked around me. We were completely back in our white cushioned practice room, where only color was those red letters above us. I looked at Sonia. She had crumbled into a ball, still holding the weird stick in her hands. Her small body was shaking.


    I felt bad. I didn''t care about school at all but Sonia really did. She really wanted to be like her uncle, but she couldn''t official apprentice before she does all the required missions succefully. She is already 18 so only thing stopping her for finally doing that is... me.


    I walked up to Sonia and raised her head to look at me. "It was fun. I just kept fucking up, so you can blame me for this."


    Sonia smiled and got up. I took her by the hand. We really didn''t have time for moping around. Were we ready or not, we had to get ready to meet the teacher.


    Even tough I couldn''t see Serena, I could still feel her dissapointing stare from under the stairs. My breath was getting heavier. We were getting into the lion''s lair.


    If I had to pick which of the three Gorgos I wanted to fight the least, Milo, Mom, or Selena Darcy, I would pick Serena. When I heard Serena''s voice while I was walking upstairs, I held my breath for a second in a panic. "Edan Alexander Roseblood. Could you please tell me what was that?"


    That''s the energy of how our conversations have been in the past two years. I don''t know if it''s some kind of tradition that when a boy becomes a teenager, he becomes the class bad guy, and a person you have to follow every single second. Or maybe it only happens when you are city''s leader''s son and your teacher''s stepson.


    Serena waited for us hands crossed. She was a scary sight angry. Even without heels she was couple of centimeters taller than me, but for some reason, she liked to wear high heeled boots that made her look like a giant. She was wrapped in her green waistcoat and she was fiddling her thin bracelet between her fingers. She was trying to calm herself down,


    I put on my widest smile. Now was the time for the ass kisser to come out. Unfortunately, ass kissing was really hard with Serena. I had to use my privilege, my secret weapon. "Come on, i don''t think mom would think it was that horrible. She always says-."


    "I don''t think you know what I mean." Serena looked at me behind her angular sunglasses. I was afraid I couldn''t talk myself and Sonia out of this mess. I had to start the project "Convince Serena to not talk to mom, so I wouldn''t have to hear mom''s complaining again." It has never worked. But you will never know. five hundread time the charm.


    "Serena- Teacher-" Suprisingly enough, but I have hard time to make up excuses about something I did when I myself don''t really know why I did it. I just sometimes do something. My human instincs kick in. I just wanted to be defensive and scream: "Well, when have you done something like that? You rearly do any missions. Usually you just teach dumb kids how to shoot a gun." I will never say it out loud because I don''t want to die while the other class is watching.


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    All the other students were standing around Serena. Every single one of them loved that I was getting scoulded. Most of them were giggling or whispering shit about me. Well, at least someone founds this amusing.


    "What was the only rule of the mission? Do you remember?" Serena raised his glasses on top of his head.


    "I know we fucked up, but like you saw what kind of situation we were. We could have never-"


    Serena raised her arm, which meant I needed to shut the fuck up. " You had many options but you decided to start doing whatever you wanted. You guys wasted so much time even before the explosion." I waited for the finishing blow. "The whole mission was to see how well without being seen. So why did Sonia screamed while flying through the air? The better question would be why did you split up so you could goof around?"


    "I- The crowd was too big." My eyes wandered towards Sonia who was quietly looking at Serena. She looked... sad, just sad.


    Serena raised her other hand that had a tablet. She sighed and tapped something in it. "I gave guards orders that they had to follow noise. bigger the noise, more the guards. If you had listened in class, you would know this."


    I bit my lip. I hate when she was right.


    "You know I don''t want to do this, but... I need to seperate you two. I need both of you to work with someone of your  own age."


    "You can''t do that. No-one here doesn''t know how to speak to me. I literally can''t work with anyone else." Sonia''s arms were shaking, but Serena didn''t seem to care.


    "Everyone here is an asshole." Every single student here were looking at me with murder in their eyes. "I know we aren''t  the most productive, but at least-"


    "I''m sure I will find something. Worry about yourself. If you want to complain, talk to your mom." Of course. I will definitely talk to my mom about how I suck at school. Better solution for me would be to walk to Asphodea holding a sign: "I''m Medusa''s son. Come and get me.".


    Serena was about to say something else, but a kind voice stopped her. "What do I need to know? Hopefully nothing serious this time." Fuck.


    When I turned towards the sound, I tried to smile as wide as I could, even tough my heart was beating fast. Saviour of Tartaros and worst fear of Ashphodea''s worst nightmare leaned into the doorframe smiling. All objections I still have were stuck in my throat, refusing to get out.


    "We just talked with Sonia and Edan about their recent mission." It''s interesting how Serena changes when mom was with her in a same room. It wasn''t a big change, but noticeable enough for me, a person who has lived with her my whole life. Her voice wasn''t tense and she wasn''t as cold as she was alone. I wish I was that happy that mom was here.


    I didn''t want to look mom in the eyes because I knew that she could murder me with just a look. Still, I was ready to talk myself out of an any punishment mom would give me. But she... She just smiled at me and tapped me on the shoulder. "We should probably start the private lessions again. Let''s talk about later."


    Mom walked past me and grabbed Serena''s arm. Mom pushed Serena away from the kids. While other kids started talking to each other, Sonia and I sneaked towards them. Serena''s and mom''s voices were quiet but I could hear them.


    "My sun, are you okay?" Serena touched mom''s cheek smiling warmly.


    "We found him. Izaiah Jones, Palademus. The only surviving inventor. We finally found him." Mom''s smile was the widest I have never seen. She grabbed Serena''s both hands and kissed them. "We are attacking tonight. Finish up the class. Today is the day we have been waiting for."


    I felt weird that they were so happy about murdering someone. Well, It''s their job. Still... I had a weird feeling that wouldn''t go away.


    Serena quickly nodded and walked back to the kids. "Class, let''s continue tomorrow. Valencia, Ivory, you''re next. Be prepared."


    The whole class left as quickly as possible, pushing each other on the way out. I was on the way out, but mom stopped me. Sometimes I think she can read my tought because I was definitely going to look for Izaiah Jones and how was he important to kill.


    "Edan, Can we talk?" Who was Izaiah Jones and why did he make mom to act like this. She looked like she had cried. I don''t know why else mom''s eyes would look so veiny. "I want you to stay with Sonia and Milo tonight. You don''t have to do morning training or anything. Just stay with Sonia until We''re back."


    I didn''t want to start fighting or interrogate about Izaiah, so I just nodded. Something inside me did want to yell that I wanted to go with them, or just to know what was going on. I knew it wasn''t going to happend, but I always kept on hoping.


    "I need to go. Let''s talk about everything after i''m back" , mom said and kissed me gently on my forehead, "I love you, sweetie."


    When mom was walking away, something slipped out of my mouth that I didn''t want to say: "Why is Izaiah Jones so important?" I didn''t trust my mom''s happiness. My mom couldn''t be this happy just because of some dude.


    "I''ll tell you everything when I''m back. Everything will get better after today. " That was the last thing she said before she left to kill Izaiah i guess. I did hope Izaiah was a bad person. If not... I hope his end will be peaceful.

 Chapter 3 - Andi

    I couldn''t breath. I don''t know why but mom had this rule to make me wear clothes that are size or two too small for me, but this is starting to get too far. Why do I have to be on a corset in a ball? What can I do wearing ill fitted concert? Stand stiffly and not eat?


    Not that I could say anything back to her. Mom had her ways to make me shut up easily. Today I can''t say anything because It''s Hazel Jones''s and his husbands last day in Ashphodea. Tomorrow they are flying to Elysia.


    I have never understood the criteria of when people can get the ticket to Elysia. Only criteria to it that I''ve had heard is that you have to be a "Loyal and trusted citizen of Ashphodea", to get to Elysia. It isn''t always true though. My mom is a great example of that. My mom has been an important part of Ashphodea since the beginning, since like the rebuilding of Ashphodea after the war started with Tartaros and the Gorgos. She is a loyal secretary to Mr mighty Perseus for many years. Why hasn''t she left for Elysia? Maybe she''s thinking of me.


    Maybe I''m just sad. I already missed Hazel. When my mom was working late, I spent several nights with her and her husband. She told me stories about the beginning of Ashphodea, Gorgo attacks and Elysia. She told me about when the first Elysia ship went up in the space with the first patch of humans worth saving from dying earth. Group of people became a part of history.


    "Andi, stand straight. This is a nice occasion. Respect Hazel''s day." Mom straightened her dress a bit and pressed a smile on her face that looked like she practised it. I don''t understand why I have to dress into an ugly dress and she can into a a beautiful white dress that looked the same as other clothes she usually wore. It looked like she could do anything wearing it. I couldn''t do anything without my mom''s help. My dress had this giant hem got stuck under my shoe after every step. I don''t know should I blame the dress or me.


    I walked wobbly up the grand stairs of city hall. I liked the city hall. It was a very old building, oldest in Ashphodea. Only thing as old is the city up the hill. Tartaros looked a lot like the city in architectural sense. If I said this out loud tough, everyone on Ashphodea would murder me. I like to look at Tartaros''s walls and the lights that came from there. I just... I just wanted to know what was going on by purely scientific reasons. I like research.


    Hazel was waiting at the door outside of the front door. Hazel smiled at everyone that walked past her. She asked how everyone was and took every compliment people gave her. Her greyish hair were in a beautiful braid that just made her look like the nicest person ever. I tried to remember her just like that.


    I only noticed Hazels husband when I was right in front of Hazel. He tried to look invisible and he kind of succeeded in it. I don''t know if I know his name. When I visited Hazel, he was usually at work or doing something. Well, he can be mysterious still and keep his secrets to Elysia.


    "Andi, darling, you look so beautiful. Teal looks so cute on you." Hazel grabbed me and swinged me around couple of times so hard my shoes almost fell off. Older woman looked at me with up and down proudly. Well, at least Hazel liked the dress.


    Before I had time to thank Hazel, mom silenced me as normal: "Thanks again about the dress. You really need to give it."


    Mom spoke so like a diplomat, like she was in a work meeting and not a party for Hazel. Or maybe it was. This wouldn''t the first time for mom.


    "Oh, it was nothing. It''s good to leave something for Andi too." I should be grateful. I hated myself for not being grateful. This dress was the last present from her. I bit my lip so much it bled red. "What do you think about the dress, Andi?"


    "I- I love it, thank you." I avoided looking at Hazel.


    Thankfully it was normal that I wasn''t the center of attention that long. Spot light switched quickly to Louis Braun, the great Perseus, that came just at the right time behind me. He walked towards Hazel and kissed her hand. "Hazel, you look dazziling. I wish tomorrow would never come."


    I have never liked Louis. He was technically mom''s boss and one of the most influencal people in Ashphodea, only below gods, but he pretended he was best friend with everyone. Only person who isn''t uncomfortable with his friendliness was mom, that worshipped the ground Louis walked on.


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    "You''re not the only one", Hazel said laughing, but that laugh felt empty, ''" But Louis dear, this is a goodbye party. Don''t you have anything else wear?"


    Louis''s hair and beard were so long, I have no idea if he has ever cut them. When looking at that and his boring black tux, he looked like he didn''t make any effort.


    "I have been to so many of these parties, I don''t know what else I could wear anymore." Louis laughed and turned to look at my mom. "But I will never mind people who will make an effort. I rather be an admirer than the admired." I didn''t even need to look at my mom. I can feel the warm feeling between them.


    "Thank-Thank you Louis. Hazel-" I tried to steer the conversation away from the fact that my mom wants his boss, but no-one listened to me as usual.


    "Oh, that reminds me, Julie and I need to go. Olympos needs us." Louis grabbed my mom''s hand. "Nothing to worry about. I just need all the hands to make sure you have the best party possible." Those words were like a fire under mom. She started to walk quickly with Louis inside the city hall.


    Hazel tried to say something but was too late. I was kind of worried about her. On the outside at least she tried to look normal but something was wrong with her. "Andi darling, we need to stay here to say hi to guests. You should go inside. Youth group is already inside."


    I walked inside, which was last thing I wanted to do. Because mom left, I had no one I should go to. I was the only teen in Ashphodea who isn''t part of the Ashphodea''s youth group. It''s competitive and sporty group that is opposite of what I like. But, I can''t make friends here without being part of the group because the group has weird vendetta towards people that aren''t part of their little club. Well, you even wants to be with them?... Maybe people who didn''t want to be alone.


    Assembly hall was filled with laughter. There was something nice about goodbye parties, especially ones that are are balls. Angels and demons were dancing together, dramatic music in their background. I grabbed my own mask and put it on. It''s weird, but i have never liked masks. Everyone else in Ashphodea loved them. They liked to hide behind anything, was it a mask or a code name. In goodbye parties, it was a tradition to get dressed as your code name but now days no-one does it, just like me.


    As I looked around the hall, I noticed a familiar face in the crowd, someone who actually liked the attention. Neela Hayer-Grey looked like the whole party was for her. She glided through the hall happily, everyone in the room following her with their stares. If everyone else in the room were angels and demons, she was a goddess, an actual goddess. She was dressed in a two-piece dress that looked glimmering. She looked like the only one that wasn''t hiding anything.


    When Neela noticed me, she ran towards me and grabbed me by the arms: "Andi darling, you look too good for just standing around. You have to dance with me."


    Before I had time to protest, Neela and were in the middle of the dance floor. Everyone who was looking Neela were looking for me too. I would be in full panic mode if I wasn''t with Neela.


    I tried to dance with Neela but it was akward. I wanted to say something but nothing came out of my mouth. I only got strenght to say something when I saw something in Neela''s hand. It was a ring. "What- When did you- When?"


    Neela stopped. She couldn''t stop smiling. "You can''t believe how happy I am. It was so romantic. Louis is so romantic."


    I wanted to throw up. I didn''t want to be reminded about the fact that Neela and Louis are together. I have many reasons why I didn''t like their relationship. One of them was my mom and Louis''s weird relationship. Other being that they were just creepy together.


    In Ashphodea''s politics, Neela was in a very weird position. Everyone knows that the "Gods" are our leaders, even tough not all of them are still alive. Neela''s mom used to be Hades before her passing. Now Neela''s brother is unofficially part of the gods, with Neela whispering orders to him any chance she gets. As Neela''s mom was Louis''s boss, Neela and Louis have known each other forever. Immiditely when Neela wasn''t a child anymore, Neela and Louis started dating.


    "Congrats! You- You-" I tried to give a compliment like a normal person, but I could''t think of anything. " I love your outfit."


    "Oh, thank you." Neela spun couple of time. "I know you don''t like dressing up, but I love it. I look amazing." Neela posed dramatically, which made couple people around us to look at Neela.


    At that moment, we heard someone tapping into the mic behind us. Right of opposite side of the hall was a giant stage where Louis was standing. Behind him was mom and an other woman I don''t think I''ve seen before. This was a sign I needed to find my place.


    I was sat next to Hazel. Mom was probably eating with gods and the people of Olympos, aka Ashphodea''s goverment. I wasn''t even allowed near them because mom didn''t want me to be involved with them. Well, I liked my table anyways.


    Table where Hazel Jones sat was the strangest group of people I have ever seen. If you exclude Hazel and her husband, who are by themselves a very odd couple, a guy next to me was very small, with glasses that covered half of his face. Woman next to him was covered in jewels. Las person on our table looked like he was pure muscle. I guess I am part of this group.


    When I sat down, Louis started his speech: "Welcome everyone!"


    The whole hall got silent in seconds. A giant screen appeared behind Louis that made his face too giant.


    "Friends and family, We are here for a very important reason. Family of Jones, you have been a very important part of our community for many years. Without us, we would have lost to our enemies up the mountain years ago. We will be most thankful for you."


    Everyone around us raised their glasses. I looked at Hazel. She looked tired.


    "This party shows you how much you will be missed. Hopefully when you are up in Elysia, you remember this day and smile. You will be greatly missed." Glasses started clinking all around us. "To Jones family! Let this day be the first day of the rest of your life."


    Everyone was in such a trance about the speech Louis was giving, no-one noticed a dark shadow that was creeping behind Louis. People started to scream when the figure pushed Louis from the stage and pointed a gun at him. All the people that tried to come help were stopped by dozens of people around the hall wielding the most peculiar weapons. Even in our table, the muscular man had two sparkling pistols.


    Then, the hall''s main entrance exploded.

 Chapter 4 - Andi

    Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. Everyone in the hall were looking at the smoke with dread. Every single one of us knew who was responsible for that explosion. I just never would have guessed that i would ever meet them.


    Smoke cleared. In the same place where a door used to be, stood three figures, two women one man. Everyone around me knew, who they were. Their faces were in every propaganda poster and school book. Gorgos. Gorgos were in front of me. i have imagined this day for year. Now that the day has come, I felt frozen.


    "Dear people of Ashphodea! I''m very sorry, but we have to stop this party for a moment", woman in the middle said. She was really beautiful with long red hair and a dress in the same color. Medusa.


    "Dear Evie..." Louis stood up, smiling just as wide as Medusa. "... and the rest. I was wondering when you and your little would come and ruin this night too." Medusa rolled her eyes.


    Woman and the man in her side looked at each other and went to shield Medusa. Louis looked suprisingly confident, even tough a person had a gun in his head.


    "We don''t want to fight, Perseus. We just want one person. We know you know which one." Woman next to Medusa said in a calm tone. She fixed the collar of her long coat. Eurydale.


    "I don''t know what are you are talking about."


    "Izaiah Jones. We want Izaiah Jones. You get to decide if  we take any him peacefully or not." The only guy in a trio, Stheno said. He raised his hand towards Louis. On his hand, there was a giant gun that was somehow tied to his hand. It was the most detailed weapon I have ever seen in my life.


    Louis smiled and tried to be calm so people around wouldn''t panic. Mom behind Louis tried to make Louis stop. "I don''t know what are-"


    Gorgos didn''t care about Louis anymore. They started to walk slowly towards people, looking around. I don''t know if I''m just paranoid but It felt like they were going towards me. I was trying not so shake from fear.


    When Eurydale walked to our table, she grabbed Hazel by the shoulder. Hazel looked like she wanted to punch Eurydale. I completly froze when my and Eurydale''s eyes met.


    "You are Hazel Jones, right. Congratulation for your amazing day." Eurydale used her hand make Hazel look at her. Hazel didn''t say a word, not even when Eurydale whispered something only I heard. "If you want to come with us too, just say the word."


    Medusa walked next to us. She took the place of the guy next me. "You can continue your party if we get Izaiah. We don''t want to be a bother." Medusa''s voice sounded disturbingly kind. The small knife in Medusa''s arm told a different story.


    "Put three fingers on the table if you want to escape. If Izaiah will help us, you can live together for the rest of your days in Tartaros." Eurydale whispered again. I was in complete state of panic I couldn''t think straight, and Hazel seemed to be too, because she made a fatal flaw and looked at her husband.


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    At that moment, Hazel''s husband started to sprint towards the stairs the would lead to town hall''s second floor. Every single person that looked like they were part of gorgos crew, turned their head towards the suprisingly quick middle aged man. They looked like he was the only thing that mattered.


    Medusa screamed: "We are not leaving without him. Get him!"


    Medusa pressed the palms of her hands. After waiting couple for couple of seconds, to her hands flew two old looking swords that were painted gold. The around the swords handle were vines from a rose. Stheno somehow shot two shots towards Hazel''s husband with the gun on his arm. Eurydale clinked her knuckles against eachother, and electiristy type glimmer would come out. All of them started running towards their target.


    The chaos erupted in the hall. Gorgos crew tried to help Gorgo''s and the guests tried to stop them. Gorgo''s chose a really hard night for kidnapping. Half of the guests here are current or former soldier, or goverment officials. But, if I was fair, Gorgo''s were up to the challenge.


    I tried to look for mom but she was fighting with a woman from her table. After getting a hold of woman''s gun, mom shot her right in the head.


    Neela stood right next to mom. Neela took out a small pistol under his skirt. Soon her and mom started running after the Gorgos, Louis leading them. I should hide buy my legs were running after them.


    City hall''s second floor was filled with offices and long hallways. One of those offices were my mom''s. It was also a deadend.


    When I took the first step up the stairs, my mom got shot. One of Stheno''s weird bullets hit her leg. She fell couple of stairs and my heart jumped.


    I couldn''t breath when I ran past mom. I was about to get my first preper scowlding. Still, I kept running.


    "Andi! Stop! You- you-" Mo tried to grab me by the dress that was tearing by my forceful running. She was too in pain to grab tightly


    I ran past dozens of doors before getting to a door I forgot. The balcony. The place Louis or some other official will give a speech sometime. I could see Izaiah, Gorgos and Louis inside with Neela. I opened the door ever so slightly to hear what they were talking about.


    Medusa had pressed her sword in Izaiah''s neck. Euryale was looking down at the guardrail. Stheno had her arm towards Louis.


    "Let him go." Louis said sternly. His charismatic self was slowly slipping.


    "We are just going to borrow him. Don''t worry. You can do to him whatever you want after we''re done with him." Medusa pushed Izaiah in the hands of Stheno.


    "Get off me-" Izaiah said a name. I couldn''t hear it but he said a name. A woman''s name. Stheno put his hands around the man. He seemed to forget other people around him. He was just mad, just purely mad. Medusa and Eurydale looked at each other in shock but still trying to keep Louis an Neela in arms lenght.


    "Milo! Please. He is still a surviving I.C.T.A scientist. We need him. Just... We can do to him what ever you want back home." Medusa put her hand on Stheno''s shoulder but took it back when a bullet hit Stheno''s shoulder. A metal clink was heard when the bullet hit him. Stheno didn''t even flich.


    Neela had taken her gun out. Her hair was a mess and her beautiful dress had spots of blood. "Of course I hit some robot part."


    Before Neela could hit again, Stheno pushed Izaiah out the balcony, jumping closely behind him. Medusa smiled and jumped on top of the rail, facing Neela and Louis. "Sorry for the interruption. Unfortunately we can''t give our new friend back but still give my regards to the... woman." She bowed. "Happy 15th anniversary."


    Before Neela and Louis could react, Eurydale hit the floor of the balcony. From her fist, small cracks started to form that quickly made the whole balcony crubmble under them. Medusa and Eurydale fell with it.


    I ran towards, revealing myself to the others. Under the crumbled balcony was a weird looking ship that was driven by a man in a robotsuit. Stheno was tying Izaiah down, Eurydale sat in the middle of the ship and Medusa, I swear Medusa winked at me when she saw me looking at me.

 Chapter 5 - Edan

    "Why do I always promise something really fucking stuoid to mom?" I fell down to my bed. I had so much pent up energy and no place to put it. I was stuck in Sonia''s and Milo''s place. If I''m like more correct, I was stuck in Sonia''s workroom where Milo had put a bed for me. I was always with Sonia when adults in my life were out kidnapping people and other parent activities. I didn''t mind it. It was nice to sleep while listening ti soft hums of Sonia''s inventions.


    Sonia sat in her workdesk. She seemed to draw graphs but I have never really understood what Sonia did. I didn''t even try to figure what any of Sonia''s machines did.


    On Sonia''s other hand, there was a a keypad that Sonia was tapping. Milo made it to her for moments when she couldn''t sign. Sometimes she used it to rant in a way I can fully understand everything. "I don''t know why it didn''t work. Milo and I have worked on it for month. Just one swing and it could release energy field that could shield from anything."


    I stood up from bed and walked next to Sonia. "Even if it would work, we would have still failed."


    Sonia made a noise out of frustration. She knew I was right.


    "But hey, it sounds dope when it works." I tapped Sonia''s head. I don''t know how to comfort Sonia. I have tried very hard for 14 years, but I still don''t know how to do it. "I am not my mom. I don''t know if she did or didn''t like this nor your shoes, but I love them."


    "Maybe I should just give up. I will never be as good as Milo." Sonia tried to smile at me but she was too tired. I tried to protest, but Sonia turned her eyes away from me, and wouldn''t look at my hands. Well, it is late. We haven''t slept all night. I just have been thinking about mom''s promise. Tomorrow I will hear everything I want to hear. I wanted to pretend that I had hard time figuring out what I would ask first. I know excatly what I want to know.


    I fell back to the bed and looked outside the window. Because Sonia loves to be just as weird as her uncle, her workroom is on top of a literal half made robot. Robot was in the middle of Milo''s workshop, surrounded by Milo''s other inventions. Because the workshop was right in the middle of Tartaros, and workshop''s windows were huge, I had the best views on Tartaros. My favorite thing to do was to stalk people outside the windows. At this time of day, there wasn''t usually anyone to stalk. Today wasn''t an usual day.


    Far away, probably in the courthouse, were lights. Mom was back. I couldn''t stop smiling. Maybe this is what Sonia needed: distraction. I rushed next to Sonia. "Mom, Serena and Milo... They are always the happiest after a succesful operation."


    Sonia got up quickly. I didn''t have time even to react before she was sliding the robot to get to the ground. I loved this version of Sonia.


    We ran outside without a good idea how we could get in the courthouse. I knew if they found the person they were looking for, they were going to have a public interrigation. I couldn''t wait to see it.


    We just had a problem. We were told not to leave Sonia''s and Milo''s place. We couldn''t just waltz right in. Sonia opened the door just outside the workshop that headed down under ground. We had to go through Troja.


    After Gorgos and their loyal subjects won the first battle between Ashphodea, people escaping Ashphodea''s rule started coming in every day. Most of them were escaping some evil faith they had at home. Because my mother is a "saint that can do no wrong", she will let everyone in who needs it. When more and more people started coming in, Gorgos needed to figure out how they could get more living spaces without destroying walls that kept her safe. So, they built more space inside the mountain Tartaros was in. The more people come here, the more big Troja will become.


    Even I''m annoyed that mom used so much time building houses to people she has never met, I had to admit that Troja is beautiful. Big problem with Tartaros was that even tough it has been altered, you can still sense the past in every wall. Troja... Troja was mom''s other kid. It was so bright even tough it was under ground. It felt welcoming, like a home.


    I completly forgot how many other probably wanted to hear the interigattion too. Big group of people was huddled around the courtroom. Right outside the courtroom was a big screen where we could see all of it clearly. We could watch the interrigation and hide in the middle of people. We could only get caught if the most loyal Gorgo people would be here.


    Samuel Vera, the most loyal of the Gorgo helpers, was walking towards us. We couldn''t escape. We could only make sure he didn''t know we weren''t allowed to be here.


    "Edan and Sonia! What''s up kiddos?" Samuel hugged us so hard, my legs rose quickly from the ground. Samuel loved to hug which was kind of painful, because Samuel''s body was made of metal. He was literally inside a robot body. "I heard from the married ladies that you two had a test today. How was it?"


    How Samuel came to Tartaros was the most interesting story I have ever heard. Milo had found him five years ago in a hospital. Samuel had had some sort of virus that made him quadriplegic. I don''t know what Gorgos were looking for but Milo liked Samuel''s creative cursing so much, he basically adopted him as his dad. Milo brought Samuel to Tartaros and built him a suit that gave Samuel the skill to move again. After that Samuel has been ruining my plans.


    "Mom said we can renew it. We had it today, but today''s mission messed it up." I tried to lie as convincing as possible. Samuel put us back down. "You know, the Izaiah Jones thing..."


    Samuel''s look turned grim. "Oh, so I guess you have to wait a little bit. I''s gonna be a rough couple of weeks for your guardians, so... be easy on them. It isn''t easy to see ghosts." Samuel looked at Sonia and smiled with reassuringly. "I''m so sorry kiddo."


    Samuel left. Me and Sonia looked at each other in confusion. What did he mean?


    "I don''t want to think about  it, but you must know what I''m thinking about." I didn''t want to admit it, but I knew what she was thinking. I couldn''t think about the words "ghost from the past". So many people have died ever since we started to fight with Ashphodea. Sonia lost her parents. I thought of my dad. I don''t know if he''s dead or not but he''s been gone so long he could be a ghost. We started to have either hope or absolute fear. Is this why we were suppose to stay home?


    The giant screen started working. We started to see the courtroom. Gorgos were sitting in their desks. In front of them was a man on his knees who like he was maybe in his fifties. His face looked... Something wasn''t right with his face. Next to the man were two guards that kept the man from moving anywhere.


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    "I don''t- I- I don''t know what you''re talking about." His voice was weak and he looked like he was in pain. "I haven''t- I haven''t done- I haven''t done anything- anything wrong."


    "Anna Eklund would disagree, don''t you think?" Milo sneered. He stood up and walked closer to the man. "Just say your real name and this is over in a second. You don''t have to pretend anymore."


    "My name is Izaiah Jones. I used to work with I.C.T.A as a-" Before the man could finish, Milo punched him in the face. *Why do you care? You seem to already know your answer."


    "We want you  to say it. Say it to the people of Tartaros." Mom seemed so happy just hours ago. Now she looked... scary. She looked like she wanted to punch their prisoner herself.


    "Is this what you do here? You are torturing an innocent person for entertaiment. I am not the person you think I am. Try to fucking understand it." Milo wanted to punch Izaiah again, but mom stopped him. Instead, mom whispered something in his ear that made him smile.


    "What''s my real name?" Milo smiled widely. "You are an former I.C.T.A scientist and you have worked with our close aquitances in Ashphodea since the start of our war. You should know my real name. Not my codename Stheno. What''s the name my niece uses when she''s talking to me?"


    Izaiah''s lips were quivering. His head was fully white. "Louis... He never let me- I haven''t-" Izaiah looked like he was about to cry. When the look on Gorgo''s faces didn''t change though, he immediately changed. He started at Milo with disgust on his face. "You are still that spoiled brat, you little-"


    You could hear the screams of shock around me. Izaiah said a woman''s name. All of the Grogos smiled. Milo walked back to his seat. "I wasn''t born as Stheno. I was once just a kid who lived with a man who hated me. Thankfully I was saved by my sister and her... crew. They are the only ones who know the name I was born with."


    Sonia sank their nails into me.  She looked like she could faint at any moment. You could also say it about Izaiah or whoever he was. I tried to drag her away from the screen, but I couldn''t move.


    "Dear people of Tartaros, 15 years ago there were only three people who knew that name. Me, my dear sister, and his pathetic husband." Milo stood up again. "15 years ago my sister and her husband died in a explosion that made us win the first battle. No-one other me should know that name. So why do you know it?"


    Milo raised the man to the air by his robotic arm. Izaiah, or whoever he is, tried to escape but it was no use. One small man was no challenge for Milo, who could raise thousands of kilos just by his robot arm.


    "Tomas Erik Henriksson. You are accused of treason and the murder of Sonia Henriksson. Prove your innocence to the audience who will choose your punishment and wheter you are innocent or not." Mom''s voice was cold. She tapped Milo to the shoulder so he would drop his brother in law.


    Man, who I guess was Sonia''s father, slumped back to the floor. "You are lying! I didn''t... You can''t blame me for he death. Anna was insane. If you can admit at least a little, how she actually was, you would know I couldn''t kill her. Killing her was impossible, as much I tried. Everyone around her were under her spell, like you too. You too. You like to pretend to be these scary rebel leader, but you are still the idiot teenagers who thought Anna was some sort of goddness. She was a monster."


    I heard people whispering around me. Everyone around me thought Anna Henriksson was a wartime martyr. They thought that about Sonia''s dad too before all of this, but here he was, alive and bitter. He didn''t die side by side with love of his life. He had been working for the other side. No-one knew what to belive. I didn''t know what to belive.


    Sonia looked like she was fainting. I tried to keep her standing still but I saw how everything was affecting her. I tried to drag her away from the screen, but I get slammed into Samuel.


    "You lied to me boy", Samuel said and puts me and Sonia on her shoudler. Fuck.


    "It was lucky for me that I got a messenge from Miss Eurydale to keep you away from Troja almost soon as I met you. As I messenged to her back, I heard you were supposed to be back at smithy." I signed.


    "Mom never said we have to stay inside." I tried to get out of Samuel''s grasp but I couldn''t win his metal arm. "I am the son of your boss! You shouldn''t be this rough. We can walk."


    "I am well aware, kiddo. I also know you are trying something and I am scared of you step-mom more than you." Samuel laughed. He opened the door that leaded up to Milo''s work.


    "Oh you should. Rena is the scariest person I have ever met. " Hades. On the top of the stairs was Milo. He was smiling so wide, I almost forgot his brother in law had come back from the dead and he had punched him so hard I was afraid he would kill him.


    Milo eyes kept going to Sonia while Samuel lowered us into the floor of the workshop. Sonia was just numb. She was deep in tought and didn''t react to anything or anyone.


    "Alirighty, I''m off to vote. He is as guilty a person could be. " Samuel tapped Milo''s shoulder. "We are going to get revenge to that traitor. I have so many ideas for punishment."


    I wanted to go take care of Sonia but Milo pointed towards his desk bit away from Sonia. It was just a corner filled with drawings and prototypes. There were two pictures that didn''t relate to work: One was an old picture of him, Serena and mom. Other was a picture of me and Sonia as toddlers.


    "So, you heard the interrigation that turned into a trial?" Milo sighned and sat down on his chair. "I really wished this was the day you didn''t do something impulsive but I guess that was just..." He looked like he either wanted to drink something strong or punch something.


    "How could I have known you were going to punch the shit out of Sonia''s dad who we tought was dead? I was told since my infancy that he blew up to bits before I was born. Usually people don''t survive something like that."


    I stopped my very passionate speech when Milo hits the table next to him. "Edan! We- We didn''t know that this was going to happen." Milo breathed in and out. He massanged his forehead. "Izaiah Jones was a man who we have tried to find for years for a project we might have to give up on. Turns out, Sonia''s father took that man''s, his former collegues, identity. If we had known he was still alive, we would have killed him long time ago."


    The first battle between Ashphodea and Tartaros was brutal. A lot of people died. Mom told me that Anna and Tomas sacrifised themselves to save their family. It was a cute story about true love. Now I''m thinking it was made up to cheer a poor orphan girl.  Tomas''s rant shattered that story by itself. Now there was only questions. I could ask dozens of questions. Could Anna be alive too? What did Tomas mean by calling Anna a monster? How did he survive? But, instead of all of these good questions, I asked something kind of stupid: "What project do you need a therapist?"


    I could see Milo shrink in his chair. He tried to say something but he closed his mouth to think. "I... Punishment for not listening to your mom, you and Sonia are going to spend the morning tomorrow with Samuel. You are on secret door duty. Go talk to Samuel first thing in the morning."


    "But-"


    I sighned. I wasn''t stupid. I couldn''t make him talk anymore. Instead I nodded. Milo smiled a little. "This is for your own good. I promise, I will tell you everything after we have dealt with... you know who."


    "Fine." I smiled the fakest smile I could. I wanted to scream, yell that I was tired of those same promises. I wanted to demand answers now. I just couldn''t. So I just smiled. I could figure out their secrets other ways.


    "Thank you Edan. I will promise I will answer any of your questions in no time." Milo turned towards his table. I started to walk back to Sonia. I didn''t want to admit it, but in my head I tried to form a plan. I needed to talk to Tomas, only person who knew answers to my questions. Maybe he was more willing to actually answer them too. Sonia needed to know his father. Maybe he knew about my dad too.


    For years I thought I was a product of Serena and mom, but after my classmates explained to me why I was wrong, I still couldn''t get mom to admit who my real father was. I even stopped calling Serena mom. I just always heard "We will explain it later."


    I was tired of waiting. I will get my answers. I just had to come up with a plan first.

 Chapter 6 - Andi

    Gorgos left us in the middle of chaos. Party, that eas just hour ago filled woth laughter, was now filled with bodies filled with bruises. I didn''t even firstly realize how much damage Gorgos crew had done. I tried to look for mom in the middle of the other victims. I wished she wasn''t hurt so bad so that I wouldn''t feel that bad ditching her.


    I did find Hazel. Hazel stood completly still, looking into the darkness. When I walked closer to her, she looked at me and completly broke down.


    "They really found him. They..."She couldn''t form full sentences. It felt weird. This was the first time I had seen her cry.


    Neela sat down next to Hazel and took older woman''s hand into hers. Hazel shook her head. "It''s too late to save him. You don''t know how mad the Gorgos are to him."


    I could feel a hand on my shoulder. Neela had walked to beside me. "Don''t worry Hazel. I''ll talk to people of Olympos. We will form a rescue mission." Hazel tried to stand up quickly but Neela stopped her. "I need to find Marx. He knows what to do."


    "I''ll find him. Don''t worry. Try to calm yourself down." Neela stood up a disappeared into the paniced crowd. I sat down in the place Neela used to be.


    I dodn''t know how to calm people down. I haven''t lost anyone I remeber. My dad was supposedly dead but only thing I knew about him was that it was somehow the Gorgos fault.


    To my suprise, Hazel stopped crying as soon as Neela left. "Can you keep a secret darling? I want to give you something that I was supposed to give you at the end of the party." I nodded


    She took a piece of paper out of her bra and gave it to me. When I opened it, it was a group photo. Two young kids, three teenagers and Two couples. They were posed like a big happy family.


    "That''s my Izaiah with her horrible ex wife. Blew herself up in the first battle. They were part of Tartaros project, one of the first couples. They were supposed to be one of those perfect families Tartaros would create before they were shipped to Elysia. Instead those Gorgos started a war because the conditions were too hard."


    Hazel tapped the oldest man in the picture that couldn''t be more than fourty. If Hazel didn''t point at him, I wouldn''t have regonized him. Next to him was the most gorgeous woman, that looked like ten years younger than him. Woman had her hand around Izaiah, holding a young child in the other. She looked line a lovely person but I guess you coudln''t judge by only a picture.


    My eyes wondered to the other couple in the picture. I realized why they looked so similar. My mother had the same picture with just them on our dinner table. That''s us. Me, dad and mom.


    "What- What picture is this?"


    "Oh, these were everywhere when the Tartaros project was airing." Hazel''s voice sounded like she said the most obvious thing imaginable. "Can you beliave those three brats are the ones the whole Ashphodea are afraid of."


    I have known life in Tartaros was filmed before the war. I have seen some film material where the girl with a giant afro, girl with a grim look and the lanky looking boy were introduced as Gorgos before it didn''t have a deeoer meaning behind it. I just couldn''t wrap my mind around one thing. "Why are my parents in this picture?"


    Hazel went quiet. "Hasn''t your mother told anything?" It didn''t feel like a question. Hazel knew the answer.


    "Told me about what?"


    "I had thought this was going to be just a nice pic about your folks but I guess..." Hazel looked around. "Your mom, she used to be in the Tartaros program as a subject at the same time as my husband. I don''t know exactly what happened to her, I just saw what was shown when Tartaros project was airing. I do remember she was close to Gorgos before... they were the Gorgos.


    I... met Izaiah after the first battle in the hospital where I volunteered. He was crushed under a wall that had been broken due the explosion that made Tartaros win the first battle. There was several skin transplants and other surgeries made to him but out of pure luck, he survived. He didn''t have anyone and was scared to be killed so I gave him permission to use my husbands name and identity who died year before.


    Day after Izaiah got into the hospital, a young woman came into see him with a young child. I was afraid at first that they were the wife and kid of him, but... It was you and your mom. Your mom said she had nowhere to go and she just desperatly wanted a familiar face that could know how she felt. She had ran away from Tartaros. Never understood what was her reason, something about a betrayal and murder.


    I felt sorry for your mom, so i became a surrogate mother to her and grandmother to you. I don''t regret it but I do wonder sometimes what she had gone through."


    Hazel''s words felt like punches. Everything she said... that didn''t sound like mom I knew. Why she was in Tartaros with dad? I was always tomd the people that were in Tartaros project were criminals and lowlife that were made into proper citizen''s by the tv show. So why our family was in it?


    "I heard I was wanted." I hid the picture in the speed of light when I heard the voice behind me. Marx Adams.


    Marx Adams, Poseidon, was the actual leader of Ashphodea and boss of Louis. He was the only few survived original gods. I would rather talked to Gorgos than him.


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    "Marx! Please tell me you have a plan", Hazel begged. Marx looked Hazel in disgust.


    "Hazel go home. Me and the other people of Olympos will handle this. Don''t worry." Marx''s voice was so deep, it could make a saner person go insane. Somehow it soothed Hazel. I couldn''t stop thinking about Elysia. Will Hazel leave without her husband?


    Marx! It think we- I think we should-"


    Marx wasn''t listening to me. He started walking towards the group of Olympians. Neela was also there, even tough she wouldn''t be official olympian until she turns 30.


    I don''t know what had gotten into me but I started to follow Marx. Maybe some adrenaline was left from the knowledge thst my parent smight be criminals. Maybe I just wanted help Hazel. Whatever the reason was, I hated it.


    "Hazel can''t leave without her husband. She is- She-" I tried to get Marx to notice me but he kept being annoyed by me. He tapped Neela''s shoulder and asked her to deal with me.


    "Andi darling. This is very serious. I think it''s best for you to leave it with the adults." Neela smiled to me with the kindest smile she could. "Go help your mom home."


    I forgot about mom. I tried to look around for her but only thing I could think of was the picture hidden inside my clothes. I needed answers and no one would give me them here.


    At thst momemnt I remember an old friend I hadn''t thought in years. Valentina had been my only friend. We were always together, even tough my mom didn''t like ger family after her grandfather was kidnapped.


    Her funeral was a week after I turned 12. Her entire family was murdered by the Gorgos. I bought the story, until I got a letter from her week after her funeral. I still remember it by heart.


    My dear friend


    When you get this messenge, I''m hopefully somewhere safe you can''t follow me in. My family isn''t safe here. They have taken mom and soon they will come for the rest of us. Our only option is to run away to grandpa. I hope you will forgive me for lying to you. He is alive. Hopefully we will be too by the end of this.


    If you ever want to meet me again, go to the Tartaros wall and find a statue that''s different from the rest. There you have to touh the past, present and the future. You know there what I mean. You were always the smart one.


    Hopefully I''ll see you again


    Valentina Vera


    She ran away to Tartaros. For some reason she is in Tartaros now. I heard rumors that Tartaros took in desoerate people but mom said it was dangerous propaganda. At this point propaganda is better than nothing.


    "Your right... I have to- I have to- I''ll find mom." I tried to look natural but all of Olympos looked at me weird. I ran away from them as fast as I could in my horrible shoes.


    I was going to Tartaros.


    The whole town was in deep sleep which made the sounds around me much more prominent than at the day time. Giant windmills on the roofs of the houses hummed like singing a melody. small animals crawled around me, trying to escape the hunter robots. Beggars and other people of the night pleaded for me to use their services. Couple of office workers were running home from a long shift. I would have probably been scared if adrenaline wasn''t pumping through my veins like a drug.


    I had to run. My dress was the worst thing you could wear to run, but I had to. If I stopped even for a second, anything could happen to me. I have never been out this late. Mom has told me stories about the lowlifes and unemployed people. None of them were good.


    My running got the attention of those people I tried to run away from. I was absolutely terrified. I wanted to turn around, go home, start reading the non-fiction book I just bought and pretend nothing happened when mom gets home. I needed to focus. I was doing this for Hazel. I was doing it for us. Old commercial''s for Elysia said that Elysia is a world "without sadness". I didn''t want Hazel to be alone in a paradise.


    The night was at its darkest when I arrived at the wall separating Tartaros from the other world. My dress was in shambles, my hair was complete mess, but the feeling I had was indescribable. The lights of Ashphodea were under me. This felt wrong. I shouldn''t feel this happy for breaking rules.


    Under the light of Ashphodea I looked around. The wall felt like it was shining by itself. The statues that were towering over me, were depictions of the myths that were used as people''s nicknames during Tartaros project and as code names after that.


    At this moment, I was kind of glad I have studied over the subject. I have read every single material I could have about Tartaros and Gorgos. Hazel also told many stories that probably shouldn''t have been said to a child.


    Medusa''s statue was suprisingly hidden from other statues. It had all three Gorgos side by side. Medusa had raised her arm, holding a severed man''s head. I guess it was Perseus in this scenario. One thing that didn''t belong. The statue where the monsters win.


    When I walked closer towards the statue, my eyes caught the details around the statue. Just before the ground was a picture of a rose garden. Then there was pictures of daggers. Almost out of my reach was pictures of snakes. All around them were stars. Was this about the past, present and future?


    Roses reminded of the book I was reading from my tablet. I was reading Osiria Rose''s memoir. Osiria Rose was the host of the Tartaros series. She was technically part of Olympos but didn''t like the job. She was just really enthusiastic about the idea of bringing families from outside the walls, where living conditions weren''t the best, into inside the walls, where they could become part of this... life and not to rebel against people who just wanted to make a good life at least some in this planet.


    Lot of people watched the Tartaros series and knew who Osiria was. It was great entertaiment to see life''s of people who wanted to become better. People had favorites. People fought over who should be sent away from Tartaros and who should have a chance for a life inside the walls. Osiria was the god who chose who would stay and who would leave.


    All of it changed in one of those banishment ceremonies. My won''t let me see the episode but I know she was about to banish someone Medusa really cared about. That live prodcast turned into a live murder of Osiria Rose. Mom said that was the moment Medusa turned from fan favorite to a terrorist.


    When I looked closer, I noticed one of the roses were white outside, red on the inside. Soon enough I saw one dagger who had blood dripping out of it. Soon, I had an idea. I tapped the white and red rose, dagger, and one of the snakes. Osiria Rose is the past, her death was the present that gave Gorgos the future.


    My hand didn''t even graze the picture of the snake before the wall before me disappeared and I started falling forward.


    Next thing I remembered was a massive headache. I stood up slowly. I must looked horrible at that moment. That was the least of my problems. My biggest problem was a boy and a girl standing before me.


    Boy was standing slightly in front of the girl. He was... so fascinating. His brightly blue eyes stood out when contrasted to his dark skin. He was like a giant compared to the girl, but he was so lanky you couldn''t be scared of him.


    A girl looked really young, even younger than me. She looked mad, but her giant eyes and small framed made her look like an angry doll. I had made a huge mistake with coming here.


    Boy walked closer to me. I was ready to get attacked but instead he raised his hand. "My name is Edan, that''s Sonia. Welcome to Tartaros."

 Chapter 7 - Andi

    I should have been an obedient daughter and gone home. I stared at the guy frightened so long, he started doing some hand signs to the girl named Sonia behind him.


    Finally, after I didn''t move an inch, guy who called himself Edan, sighed. "You know, we can be here all day but if you want to talk to us and not seven feet tall robot man..." Sonia gave Edan some kind of tablet. "So, who do you choose?"


    "What are you- What- What are you going to do... to me?"


    I finally looked around in the room I fell. It was small, and the only light came from the stairs Sonia and Edan came from. When I stood up right, the ground under me felt unstable. At least the ground was soft. Well, there was a possibility that I fell to my death and this was all a big hallucination I was having while I was bleeding out.


    "Depends on why you are here and if you have good connections inside and outside. While we wait for Samuel to come back, we can do the form."


    Edan pressed something on the tablet. Several questions started floating around him. All of the questions were reasonable like, one was about my allergies, and one next to it was about family. One question made me jump. "Do you have any connections to Hayer-Grey family?" Does Neela count? I hope it didn''t. Hopefully it only meant Neela''s brother and his weird family I have never talked to.


    "Who-" I tried to ask something but  I got confused when Edan started to walk around me, looking at me up and down.


    "Are you one of those forced marriage girls? Did you have some family drama or did you get one of the gods angry?" The girl punched Edan on the rib and did some hand signal. "Oh come on, only nice thing about this work is to hear gossip from Ashphodea."


    "Are you- Are you always- always this rude to people?" Edan laughed. I was horrified that those words came out of my mouth. I don''t know what they would do to rude people, unless we were talking about some children stories I heard growing up.


    "I don''t know. This is my first time doing this by myself, or technically with Sonia. Samuel usually does this, or whoever is on the trapdoor duty. Samuel said he would show us the ropes but he went to get a drink before a shift because it was going to be a slow night." Edan tried to be cool and mysterious but his ripped t-shirt got stuck in the door that he was trying to lean on. "If I was my mom, I would pat you on the head and say something cheesy."


    I remembered the picture on my dress. I breathed slowly in and out and took the picture out. "This is my family."


    Edan finally got silent. He looked at Sonia, did his weird hand movements, and looked back at me. He grabbed the picture from my hand. He had suprising enough strength in his arms for such a skinny kid. "Where did you get this?"


    "Hazel, my grandma... Well, not technically but like- Okay, her husband is,was, the guy on the pic." I pointed at Izaiah on the picture.


    Edan looked like something clicked on his brain. He started smiling way too wide. "Are you close to him?"


    "I guess? I don''t-"


    "What''s your name?"


    "Andi. I need to-"


    "Do you want to make a deal with me Andi? We can help you with any thing you are here for if you help us."


    I felt like I didn''t have another choice so I nodded. Edan walked towards the chairs and looke back at me, waiting for me to follow him.


    "We have to move before Samuel gets here."


    "I have-I have a friend. She is- she might-"


    "I''m sure we might she her on the way here." I sighed and followed the boy. Sonia came after us, like a small guard dog.


    We wealked in silence couple of minutes till we got to the ground. Those two minutes were like torture to me. Paranoid thoughts filled my mind. What were they going to do to me? What was his grand plan?


    I stopped walking, forcing them to stop walking at the same time too. "Where are you... Where are we going?"


    Edan started to say something but stopped. When I tried to say something again, Edan put his hand on his mouth and pushed me in a corner on the room. "Be quiet! We can''t let Samuel see you."


    Loud foptsteps were coming toward us. When I looked around the corner, I saw a giant robot man, the same one that steered the weird ship Gorgos escaped in. It walked slow and loud steps, like a machine ready to attack. Even tough I was terrified, I waved my hand towards it.


    Edan pushed me back against the corner again. He punched me in the shoulder. "What the Hades are you doing?"


    "Answer... Answer me or I go talk... that."


    Edan wanted to fight me, I could clearly see it. He looked around and made some othe handmotions to Sonia who just looked at us and waited our altercation to end. "Not here. Outside."


    This was the compromise I could settle. At least I could get some answers from him.


    I looked around. The room we were in was very open. There were two doors. One were the robot man stood. We all ran towards the other as fast as we could. We could hear a deep voice behind us. "I''m going to tell your mother about this!"


    We only stopped when we arrived at a small crossroad. Edan and Sonia giggled like crazy. I was just trying to get some air.


    "Okay, dude. I will answer three questions. Then we start doing what we want to do."


    I was about to ask some of my thousand questions I had in my head but I got distracted. This was the first time I had seen Tartaros on the inside. It was the most beautiful sight I had seen. Every house had a painting on the side of it. I didn''t even know that this many artstyles were a thing. In Ashphodea, people like realism. Here... the building in front of me was painted so colorfully. It didn''t try to be anything but it still facinated me.


    "Beautiful..."


    Edan laughed, small smile escaping his lips. "Wait when we walk more that way. There''s one of my favorite works."


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    "Are there paintings on every wall?"


    "Yeah, mamy people who come here are artist that want to leave their mark here. It also helps covering up the past people don''t want to think about, you know." Edan sighed. "Okay, that was one. Two to go."


    "Wait what?"


    Edan smiled annoyingly and started walking away. "We are in a hurry, so you better think your questions well." I wanted to stangle him. If I wanted to get ignore, I should have stayed home. I wanted to cry but I couldn''t see how easy I was to annoy. I just had to follow him and Sonia.


    Edan didn''t even seem to care. He did his weird handmovements with Sonia and laughed like they were in on a joke I didn''t get.


    "What''s with the hands?" Edan stopped walking. They looked at me like I said the most bizzare sentence in a world.


    "What''s what?" Edan tapped Sonia''s shoulder.


    "That... handwaving... thing."


    "You haven''t seen anyone using aign langiage before?" Both Edan and Sonia laughed but got serious when they saw I was serious. "You have never seen sign language before."


    "No... I haven''t."


    "Sonia is deaf. This is her way of comunicating. Good for talking about someone you are in a same room with." I have never met a person with such a drastic "physical flaw" before. It was... People usually get a special ticket to Elysia if you can''t be cured here. Of course people in Tartaros had to live with these things.


    I smiled widely and grabbed Sonia by the arm. I hoped Edan would take the bait. You can only beat an asshole in his own game. "So, have you been deaf... since birth?"


    "It was some accident when Sonia was a kid. Made her almost completly deaf and made her stop speaking. But like, where does she even need it anyways. She''s a badass now." Sonia and Edan smirked. Edan eyes sparked with pride. I wish I had such a good relationship with someone. "Well, if that was the last question-"


    I raised my hand to quiet the boy. "I... You said you would answer three questions. I was asking this... from Sonia."


    Edan smiled. I didn''t know if I was just seeing things but I could swore I saw a bit of proudness in his face. "Okay, fine if you want to be a pedantic about it. Let''s hear it."


    I smiled hopefully. "Do you know... Valentina Vera?" Edan turned to Sonia. Their annoyingly smug faces turned dark. They pitied me, I know they they did but why? Why did they pitied me?


    "You don''t to sugar- pity- I can handle it." That was a bold lie but my new aquitances seemd to bought it.


    "Okay fine... I don''t know who Valentina Vera is but that robot man we escaped from was named Samuel Vera. All, except one of his grandchildren died coming to Tartaros. The only surviving Vera is a guy so..."


    Was I a horrible liar if I would start crying? Sonia punched Edan''s shoulder and they started fighting with their hand movements. "But I thought... I thought... I got a letter from her after her funeral."


    "Probably she wrote it before she died. I don''t know, I''m not respobsible for letters. Mom usually sents some that she gets from relatives." So I was alone in a town that hated me, with no way of helping people I care about. Couple of tears fell on my cheek that I tried desperatly holding in. My only option was to go bacl home or follow complete strangers. I hated both of those options so much.


    As I composed myself, Edan was ready to continue his mission forward. He fully ignored my crisis and grieving of a friemd who I thought was alive. So, my only option was to pretend I felt fine. "So, where are... Where are we going?"


    "Just turn left and walk until you see a wall." I did what Edan told me to. There was nothing else I could do. I only stopped when I saw the wall Edan mentioned.


    It was a big picture of five creatures thay were carrying a young woman in a glass box, which is filled with flowers. The creatures looked like ghosts. All of them, except one, had their faces smudged. Only person with regonizable facial expression was a young girl right in the middle of the ghosts. She was young, no more than ten. I could feel the girl''s pain trough the painting.


    "Since I mentioned it, this is my favorite one. Just right in our way." Edan marched next to me.


    "It''s beautiful."


    "I have always wanted to know what does the pic mean. Maybe some kid died coming here." Edan''s eyes locked into the woman on  the coffin. "Well, enough sigh seeing. Off to our first stop."


    "Where are we going?"


    "We are getting you new clothes. Or do you want go to the prison on that?"


    I completly forgot. I was in a dress that was almost completly torned apart. I needed new clothes as soon as possible.


    "From where?"


    Edan put his hands to either side of his face and turned it towards a house on the other side of the wall painting. That house looked different from the rest. It was black and white, black being a text all around the house. Names. My heart hurted when I saw one of the names were Valentina''s.


    "I''m going to get you something to wear. Wait here with Sonia." Edan said, bossing me yet again.


    "I- I- Look at me. How-" For the first time, I noticed there was people around me. An old couple walked past us, wearing only the color yellow. It was weird. They looked like they judged us, while my mom would judge them back in Ashphodea.


    Edan wanted to argue with me but knew he couldn''t leave me on the broad morning light. "Be quiet or I will banish you from Tartaros myself." The Edan took me by the hand and started dragging me towards the house.


    That house was just as odd than everything else in Tartaros. There were color in every corner of the house. Floors were filled with clothes and different drawings. Small lights were hovering all around the ceiling, lighting our sneaking in.


    Edan kneeled down to a one pile of clothes. I on the other hand... I started hearing a voice on the other side of the door next to me. The most silent I could, I walked towards the noise.


    "Like it or not, he is still Sonia''s father. We could figure out something." I regonized the voice immitely. Medusa. She was sitting on a couch next to Eurydale, her head on Eurydale''s shoulder.


    "I would like to hear any other idea. 10 hours from now the voting will end and you know ecactly what the verdict will be. After he will never help us with... you know who." Eurydale stood up.


    "I know, I know. He is a complete asshole and I hate him so much but... this is so hard. We mourned for him. We praised him to his daughter. He was family."


    Eurydale laughed and disappeared somewhere I couldn''t see on my limited view. "He has neber really been a part of our family, even when he was... Before the explosion. Remember the stories Milo told? He was and probably still is a power hungry psychopath."


    I know... I just... Have you thought about the fact that there are only six surviving people who fought in the first battle, seven if you include him? We are in our thirties."


    Eurydale appeared next to Medusa, now more worried. "My sun, are you okay? What makes you think that?"


    "You know why. Seeing Julie last week and now this... I feel like this is all just karma from something I still don''t know, or a sign." My heart jumped when Medusa said Julie, Louis''s nickname for my mom.


    I was so ficated on the Gorgos, I didn''t notice Edan who had walked next to me. After he tried to make me move by pointing at the door, he tried to push me, which resulted in us falling to the ground.


    "Milo? Is that you?" We ran as fast as we could and didn''t stop until we were back to Sonia. I wanted to curse. This was enough cardio for one day.


    "How often do you go to the Gorgos?" Edan didn''t answer me. He just threw me a green jumpsuit.


    "Put this on. You look like a weird hooker."


    "Where do I change clothes?"


    "Sonia will keep you cover. ¡±  Edan pushed Sonia forward.  Sonia finally made a hand signal that I knew too.  Despite the resistance, she stepped forward, turned her back towards me, and raised her hands to the t-position.  It wasn¡¯t until then that I noticed that the sleeves on her shirt were really wide.  His sleeves covered me, at least somehow, that I was hiding from Edan.


    I quickly tore out what was left of the dress and changed it to the piece of clothing Edan had given me.  It was a very simple dark green pantsuit that was a little too big for me.  I took the dress belt, which was pretty much only thing still wearable, and put it on me.


    I walked out from behind Sonia.  Edan smiled approvingly.  "Better.  Well, one more thing. ¡±  Before I had time to resist, Edan walked behind my back and cut off most of my tangled hair with two clicks.  "Now at least you don''t look like a witch."


    "What the- You can''t- Where did you even get the scissors? ¡±


    "Inside the town hall, of course."  Edan looked at Sonia as if I had said something stupid.


    I looked at them both in confusion.  "How close are you to the Gorges?"  Again, Edan didn''t answer.  He just waived at something to Sonia.  I wanted to shout or hit Edan in the face.  "You have to be even somehow close if you can just take anything and walk anywhere, like inside a prison."


    ¡°It¡¯s not about the connections or relationships, it¡¯s about these¡± Edan took a giant keychain from his pocket and threw it from one hand to the other.  I rolled my eyes.  Is this what I have to endure?  Edan began to leap forward, grinning wide.


    ¡°Besides, we can¡¯t stay here worrying about relationships or secrets.  We have a meeting inside a prison. ¡±

 Chapter 8 - Edan

    "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Sonia asked for the thousandth time. We were walking towards the secret door towards the prison, the one I have seen mom use dozens of times. "What if he won''t talk? We don''t be sure that he will just start to talk to me or Andi, even if they are really close. We don''t know what he''s like at all."


    I didn''t want to show Sonia that I had same fears as her. If there was any truth to what mom and Serena were talking about, he wouldn''t talk to anyone. Even if that was the case, it was too late to back down now. We just had to me most charismatic selves we can be. It might be more easy to say than done.


    "Don''t doubt us. We are not Gorgos. He doesn''t have anything to hide from us." Sonia didn''t seem to be convinced. I punched her playfully to the shoulder so she would stop biting her nails. "Hey, if he''s asshole to us to, I can beat him up."


    Sonia laughed loudly. "You are an idiot."


    "I am the idiot that is taking you to meet your dad." I grabbed Sonia''s hand. At the same time,  I looked behind us.


    Andi walked behind us in small steps, head down. I wanted to say something nice to her. You could clearly see that the new enviroment wasn''t working for her.  She looked so lost and scared, looking around like everyone and everything here would kill her.


    Other part of me still didn''t trust her. I didn''t know anything about her except that photo and I didn''t want to accept it. I had seen her parents pictures in so many places. In mom''s desk, in the memorial paintings, on the day of remembering. I didn''t want to think what that meant if the girl behind me was what I thought she was.


    Before my thoughts got the best of me, we finally arrived to our destination. In front of us was a giant statue that potrayed a character with three heads. On the foot of that charcter was a screen with numbers and letter. On top of the screen was a three words in big letters: "Who guards you?"


    As always, me and Sonia ignored the statue and started to climb up it to get to the roof. We had a spot on there where we sometimes listened when Gorgos talked with the prisoners. Roofs on Tartaros were so close to each other, it was really easy to just chill there and not fall.


    I was just about to order Andi to follow us, when the door to the prison opened. Andi stood in front of the screen and looked like she did something wrong. Andi looked at us and trying to get us to answer what she just did.


    "How in the- How did you know the password?" I slowly got down on the statue and walked towards Andi who was in a verge of a exsistential breakdown.


    "I just answered the question. Hekatonkheiret."


    "How in Hades would you know that?"


    "Hekatonkheiret were the guards in the myths about Tartaros, in the original Tartaros from the ancient myths. They were three giants that had hunread hands and fifty heads. They were put to guard the giants when Zeus-" Andi went quiet when she noticed I was staring at her. "From books, I guess. I don''t know. I have-"


    "So, Hekaton, or whatever the name was, seems kind of complicated for a password."


    "Password, was 310050, so three things with hundred hands and fifty heads... or something. I wasn''t sure on what order the number were, but... I guess I got in on the first time." Girl almost shook in happiness. I was bit annoyed. She seemed to like being smartest person in the room.


    I tapped the girl in the back and grabbed her by the shoulders. I looked at the stairs that appeared behind the statue. I had only seen them when I was stalking mom''s movements. "Well, in honor of being a smartass, you can be the first person to walk into the prison in Tartaros."


    I pushed Andi to walk towards the stairs. Andi tried to stop me but she had a weaker arms than me.


    "Why?" Andi sounded angry. It didn''t affect me. She was a opposite of scary. I lived with women that could be absolutely terrifying. Andi was a little girl made from marble compared to Sonia, Serena or mom. I don''t think Andi could scare even a baby.


    "My mom always says that the wisest people should always lead the fight, not the strongest."


    "We are not- What?"


    "We don''t know what''s waiting us. I have never gone this route. But now I can, thanks to you." Andi didn''t say anything else. She just started to walk up the stairs. Thankfully smart people with horrible social skills are easily convinced to do things.


    After we walked couple of minutes, Andi, me and Sonia, who came slowly behind us, walked up to a door with a window. I pushed both girls on the edge of the hallway after I saw two figures on the other side of glass.


    "I don''t really understand why is it that some Ashphodean doctor is this hard to crack. Are you sure you did all you could?" The voice was weak, but I regonized the talking figure. Leonardo Portelli was a shortish man, that worked as the prison guard, and whose voice was the most annoying thing in the world. He was also big kiss ass to mom. Great.


    "You small man, I said this once, so listen to me carefully: If I said, that I can''t do anything, it''s true. There isn''t no one better than me." Other speaker was Basil. I knew it was Basil. I have only met him face to face once but I have heard what he does through the roof. His voice stays in your head to haunt it for a long time. It was like a whisper you could hear in your nightmares. It was a opposite to the horrifying screams Basil could force out of people. He was a torturer, brought here to work from Ashphodea in exchange for pardon of the crimes he did there. Mom didn''t like him, but she said sometimes there wasn''t any other options than to use him. I guess this was one of these times.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Yeah, but-"


    Basil sighed. "I don''t have time for this. The man goes into the shame room. Eurydale''s orders. That will make him talk."


    "Are the votes already counted? The shame room... Isn''t that a bit harsh?"


    "We are at war. I am trying to beat it. You can go preach about love and peach to people in Ashphodea." Basil''s footsteps sounded like raindrops. "Like I said, I don''t have time for this. Take me away."


    I prayed that they didn''t walk towards us. Thankfully, I heard the men''s footsteps going the opposite direction. When it felt like it was safe, I opened the door slowly and walked inside.


    Door opened to a small room that had hallways to every place possible. I looked around. Suprisingly, there weren''t any cameras around that could spot us. There were only a small desk where Leonardo probably sat.


    "So, what''s the plan?" Oh yeah, I needed a plan. If I was being honest, I didn''t think I could get this far inside. I usually just listened from the cracks on the roof.


    Same time I was thinking about something to do, Sonia walked up to Leonardo''s desk and opened his very old hologram computer. "Start to look for Tomas. I try to check what kind of security here is. I promise to come after you."


    Sonia and Edan looked at each other. I wanted to say something against it, but it was our best plan. I nodded and grabbed Andi by the hand. We ran to one of these hallways.


    We looked at empty cells what felt like forever. Finally, after a long while, We found a cell, we heard desperate groans. I was ready rush next to him, but Andi stopped me.


    "Should we- We should- How do we do this?" Andi scratched her arm. She looked at the cell where the groan comes from.


    "If you want, you could go first. You are the one, who knows him." Andi looked at me with giant eyes. She couldn''t talk to her for a moment. After that... she nodded. She nodded and started walking towards the sound. I wanted to order her to get back but it was too late.


    "Hey You! You... Hazel''s husband! It''s Andi!" Andi''s voice was shaking. "I came to rescue you."


    The howling groans stopped. "Oh, this is such a pathetic technique. Do you really beliave that some kid from home, that I only spoke twice, could make me speak? You are the more stupid than I thought", weak voice of a man came from the same place as the groans.


    Andi stopped at the place where the groan came from. "This isn''t... I came to rescue you!" Andi looked inside the cage. She... She has been just like a scared little girl the whole time she was here, but this was different. She looked inside the cell like she had seen the monster that haunted her nightmares as a child.


    "Don''t lie to me, girl! I know the real Andi. She is too weak to do something that would break the rules."


    Andi walked a step backwards. "But Hazel- Hazel needs-"


    "You are just a grogos sceme to make me to serve them like they are gods. Say to Gorgos that I''m not afraid of them. I have been treated worse than this." The man''s voice sounded aggressive.


    "I just-" The girl was frozen. I needed to help her.


    I walked up to Andi smiling as widely as she could. "I promise this isn''t a manipulation thing. We are friends. We want to help you."


    My smile faded when I saw the man in the cell. He didn''t look at all like in front of the gorgos last night. He didn''t even look like a human. He looked like he was made by parts of dead people. All different looking parts of his body was stiched together by a seam that looked rotten. I couldn''t move because of fear.


    Tomas, or what I thought was Tomas, laughed loudly. "Of course, you are not my saviors. You are kids who wanted to see Tartaro''s new freak. Well, here I am. You leaders stripped me my disguise so you have to look at my real face. The face my former wife gave me."


    Man crawled towards us. Every step he took, we took one backwards.


    "We just saw you and we-" I tried to sound at least somewhat charming but I couldn''t. I couldn''t even look at him in the eyes.


    "Let me guess, mommy and daddy told you not to do something so you did it." Tomas smiled, and it looked like some of the seams were coming off. "Your brains aren''t as developed yet so you don''t know, yo ureally shouldn''t mess with dangerous things. I am a dangerous person, even tough it''s not for the reasons I was sentenced with."


    "We didn''t-" I tried to say something but steps next to me distracted me. Sonia walked up to us. She jad raised her arms but lowered them when she saw we were staring at a cell. I just nodded to her.


    "We have not much time. The guard method here is so unnoticable." Sonia freezed just like we were, but this time, Tomas had the same reaction to her than she had to him.


    "Anna? They wouldn''t..." Now I could see the sad old man he was at the court. "You look just like your mom. Your face... I thought I could never see them again. Do you know who I am?"


    Tomas tried touch Sonia but she wouldn''t walk close enough. "She can''t talk", I said, while walking in the middle of them.


    "Of course. How could I forget... " Man went deep into hos thought. Now would be the perfect time to ask questions.


    "Why? Why did you- what did you-" Andi opened her mouth. Nothing came out of it but she still opened it.


    Then I realized something perfect: I still had the photo Andi gave me. I took the photo out and gave it to the man. "What happened to you?"


    Tomas changed. He looked weird. He opened the picture and sighed. "I knew you were here because of that woman, Andi. Hazel..." Tomas gave the picture back to me. "I can''t tell you anything here, we don''t have much time, but I know how you could get answers."


    "How?"


    Tomas laughed. It was kind of smug laugh, line we just co firmed his thoughts. "What do you really know about the time before the Grogos reign?"


    I didn''t know how to respond. I''m sure Serena had taught a lot of things to us in history class. What I remember is Serena and Evalyn discovered something horrible happening inside Tartaros''s game show. While trying to tell the audience about it, they were blamed for hundreds of deaths. Then, the war started. I never really listened in class. But that was Serena''s side of the story. I wanted a new one. "That''s why we are asking you."


    "The former leaders of Tartaros, I.C.T.A, were genius. They knew how to record memories. They wanted to see people''s experiences like they themselves were experiencing them." His stare was terrifying. "All of the memories they recorded from the people in Tartaros are still in Tartaros. I''m sure of it. Gorgos couldn''t detroy them. Find I.C.T.A. and you can find unlimited answers.


    Sonia grabbed my hand. "The practising room. We have always thought how they could do those world we practise on. Maybe that''s the origin."


    "One more thing that you need." Man raide his hand towards us, which made us jump. I did notice quickly what he wanted to show. On his right arm, just above his wrist was a small metal box that had the name "Tomas Henriksson", row of numbers and the codename Pemphredo. Skin around the box looked dead, just like around his seams.


    "How is this going to help us?"


    Tomas opened the lid of the box and took a card out of it. He put it gently to the ground where Sonia picked it up. "In that you can open the memories. If you need it, my password is Sonias birthday."


    "We need to go." Sonia started walking away. I was going to do it too, when Tomas stopped me.


    "You look just line your mother but your eyes... I can see who your father is." Fuck. I wanted to ask him so many questions but I couldn''t.


    "You know who I am?"


    "Of course." Tomas smiled and looked at me and Andi. "I could regonize a Roseblood anywhere"

 Chapter 9 - Andi

    "What did Izaiah- that man meant by... Rosebloods." We got out of a prison as suprisingly we got in it. I stopped questioning what was going on hours ago. I was still just as confused as I was this morning.


    "That''s my last name. I think most of the people on that picture are Rosebloods. For example, my mom was that teenager with a giant afro." I felt like my mind was overheating. Edan just shrugged like he said the most obvious thing in the world.


    "So, that means... You know... my mom, your mom- your mom is-" I felt like I was having a stroke. Edan looked at me like I was crazy. I wanted to punch him in the face.


    "I thought it was obvious. Your mom was probably some sort of old family friend who betrayed my mom. Maybe your dad too. Who knows? I have stopped counting the people mom says she has made mad." Edan started walking away just chilling, like he didn''t just shatter my whole world view. "She is Medusa, so I bet she has enemies even she doesn''t know about."


    I was about to follow him when his words made me froze. I have been working with my mom''s enemy''s son this whole time. I needed to go home and apologize to my mom. The worst of all, I still wanted to see what did the guy in the prison gave Edan.


    "Where are we going?"


    Edan laughed. "Me and Sonia had a bet on how long you will last here. You owe me a weeks worth of chores. "


    Sonia tapped gently to the boys shoulder. I couldn''t help but feel a bit lonely when they started to walk ahead of me, talking with their hands and laughing. I always wanted a friend. This was the longest time I had talked to someone my age since I don''t even know.


    "Where are we going?" I asked again.


    "The practise room is close from here. Just follow us."


    After walking for a while, we could see a dome like building, that was painted to look like the midday sky. It had clouds and small birds, some that had died from extincison hundread of years ago. We walked up to a small side door that Edan just opened.


    The dome inside was just plain white. the corridor was white, the room next to me was white. My eyes hurt from watching it. Edan and Sonia were so used to it, they were walking up the stairs in front of us before I had gotten used to all that whiteness.


    "Shouldn''t we... Shouldn''t we be careful?" I knew now Edan was the son of the leader here, but I thought we shouldn''t leave a trace that we were here. But, like always, Edan didn''t care about what I thought, so why should I?


    On the top of the stairs was a small door that Sonia kicked open and the duo barged right in. The room inside was small, and filled with weird machinery I haven''t seen in any other place other than in history books. I looked at how Sonia and Edan were so aggresive towards them and my heart broke.


    "Try to look for a place that I could fit this in." Edan rolled the card on his two fingers.


    "I thought you go to here all the time."


    "Well..." Edan laughed awkwardly. Great. "I have been here for training, either to look at my mom''s training or my classmates. I have never had to use one of these things before." Edan pointed at a giant window before us. On the other side of the glass was a giant white room that looked quite comfy. That might be normal place to practise, how would I know. I should have gone to the youth group if I wanted to know how to fight.


    I walked to a table next to the window. Right below the window was a a small hole in the middle of picture of a sun. "Edan, try this."


    Edan walked next to me and put the card into the hole. At that excact minute, the room turned on. Every computer looking thing light up, showing a small text: "Welcome back, Pemphredo.". When the computers opened, so did the drawers under the computers. All of the drawers were filled with folders. All of us rushed next to them.


    In front of each folder had a name, codename and a number, just like in the weird thing on Tomas'' arm. I grabbed Medusa''s file.


    The file was suprisingly boring. The only thing other than the front page information, inside the file there was only one paper that listed Medusa''s health information, and the rest of the papers were just string of numbers. I looked around. There was a slate that looked like a control panel.


    "What would happen if we would put one of these numbers in a control panel?"


    Edan grabbed the panel to his hand. It didn''t seem to break but I still jumped. "Give me a number."


    Sonia signed something. She tried to take the tablet away from Edan, but Edan''s grip to the tablet was tight. I opened the medusa file from the middle and put my finger on the middle. "2087-07-25-2020."


    Edan tapped the screen and suddenly the room outside the window changed colors. Edan gave his tablet to Sonia and grabbed my hand. "You really want to see this."


    Edan started dragging me towards downstairs. "What- Where- What are you doing?"


    "Just trust me. You need to see downstairs."


    As we walked down the stairs, I kept looking back. "What about- How is Sonia-"


    "if something goes wrong, Sonia can fix it. Trust me." I was sure Sonia could do wonders. My biggest issue was the fact we couldn''t communicate with her. I''m sure those two had some way of communicating but I was still worried.


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    "Should we still-" Edan opened the door and before i could finish my sentence, I was silenced by a loud sound of music. The white room had turned into a ballroom with hundreds of dancers in the most elaborate outfits. The walls were deep blue and the lights on the ceiling were like stars in the night. It was like I had walked into a fairytale.


    "Be careful. I don''t know if the setting are still on the training mode, so these people could attack us. Just don''t make them seem that you are violent. " Edan talked so casually when he said things that made me question everything around me.


    I was about to try to start argue with him again, when a woman wearing a blue silk scarf, danced right in front of me in the hand of a man, whose dark dreadlocks were tied in a loose bun. They were wearing matching blue clothes, like a annoyingly in love couple or a prince and princess from ancient stories.


    "Mom and dad." My voice was like a whisper, even tough they wouldn''t have cared if I had yelled. They looked so happy. Mom must have been in her last months. I was in her stomach. I felt a twist on my stomach.


    Mom and dad stopped dancing when three giggling teenagers and a child not more than 10, ran towards them. Each of them were dressed more fancy than the other. The girl, who was dressed in tight blood red dress. put her arm around my father, giggling like crazy. I had seen her in the photo. Edan even pointed her out.


    "Julie, Xander, you will never guess what happened", Medusa laughed. The other girl of the trio, dressed in a sparkling blakc dress, rolled her eyes. Eurydale.


    "That man who arrested us and the reason we are here... is here. For a distraction so he wouldn''t see , Evalyn asked him to dance." Eurydale tried to smile but it looked forced. "Sun has been like this ever since."


    "Can''t I be happy? This place sucks, so I at least could have had a little fun. The man was a good dancer." Medusa winked and poked the third teenager. "Besides, I needed to make sure he wouldn''t see this guy."


    "This has become such a hassle. I shouldn''t have come here" , boy laughed awkwardly.


    "Oh, don''t be a buzzkill. Me and Serena will protect you. Even genius need a day off. We need to use every opportunity to drink free alcohol." Medusa saw my father staring at her. "... Or if you are under aged like our sweet Milo, eat free food."


    "Evalyn, could you please-" my father was silenced by the music stopping. At the same time, dozens of flowing cameras appeared all around us. Shortly after, a giant stage started rising from the middle of the room. On the middle of that stage was a woman dressed in a most detailed outfit you could imagine. Small holograms of butterflies flew all around her. All the cameras around us were pointing towards her. She could only be a only person.


    Other people around the stage were ecstatic. They were applauding and cheering. Only one who didn''t clap were Medusa, who was booing, with the help of her future trio. My father hit Medusa on the shoulder. " Show some respect just once. The cameras see you."


    "If Osiria was offended that I didn''t worship the ground she walked on, she can come to talk to me myself." Medusa smirked.


    "Welcome people of Tartaros and the audience. I''m happy to see so many happy looking faces around me ready to better themselves. Tartaros-project has been like a child to me so I''m happy it is finally here, ready to be tested." Osiria Rose smiled. "You are people who have never had a chance to be good. Now, you finally have a choice."


    Medusa groaned, which made Eurydale and Stheno laugh. It also made my father snap. "Stop it. We are going to get kicked out because of you."


    "Good. We shouldn''t be here in the first place", Evalyn snapped back. Father sighed.


    "We didn''t have any other choice and you know it."


    Medusa''s face changed from a Edan like smirk to face of pure anger. "And what might be the reason why we ran out of options? I was going to get us inside the walls, if you weren''t such a fucking coward."


    My father crossed his arms. "Don''t curse at me. What are you, twelve?" father looked around, making sure no one would look at them. " Evalyn, can you stop arguing with me for just a second? I know you are mad at me, but don''t take the anger out now. We can do the legal guardian - angry younger sister routine in our new house."


    It was such a obvious thing, but I was still suprised. I looked at Edan. I didn''t know if he thought the same as me. I guess we were related.


    "I would love if you argued back at me. That would mean you wouldn''t just be doormat anyone who wanted that." Medusa talked softly like a whisper.


    "Don''t.." Father wanted to be more angry but saw the ten year old, who looked like she was close to crying. He walked next to the kid and took her into his arms. "Kelsie, I''m sorry. Don''t worry. Me and your sister won''t fight anymore."


    Father had stopped giving Evalyn attention. He didn''t even looked at Medusa. He just tried to stop to kid to cry.


    Medusa sighed and looked at Eurydale. "Let''s go. I don''t wanna be here anymore."


    "I..." Eurydale wanted nod, but stopped when she saw something in the distance. "I don''t want to go yet."


    Medusa looked at Eurydale and then Stheno, who also looked like he didn''t want to grow yet. Medusa groaned and started walking away. Edan grabbed my hand to follow her.


    I regonized suprisingly many of the people at the party, most of them from mom''s work. I saw one woman who looked just like Hazel, and just ten metres away was Tomas and his then partner, Sonia''s mom. I saw woman who looked a bit like Neela, who talked to a person who looked so much like Marx Adams.


    After I saw Marx, a world around me changed. We were now outside, just in the middle of Tartaros. it was dark outside but it was dark the way Tartaros is. There were small floating lights that looked beautiful.


    Medusa was sitting on the top of the stairs. She looked at the distance, and fixed flowers she had put in her hair. When we walked closer to her, we jumped when Medusa turned to look at us.


    "Are you alright? I hope you didn''t run away from me." Thankfully a man''s voice came behind us. He looked strangely familiar with his blonde hair and wide smile. "You promised me a one more dance."


    When man walked next to Medusa, I saw the look on Edan''s face. I realized then that Edan hasn''t talked about his own dad.


    A man sat next to Medusa. Medusa sighed. "I''m sorry. I really liked our dance. I just really want to dance, talk... to do anything right now."


    "We don''t need to talk."


    Man went red when Medusa started to laugh. "What dies that suppose to mean?" That was the moment when I knew who the man was. His smile... I knew that smile. "Oh, I''m kidding. Your poker face is so bad for a guard."


    "Edan, I..." Edan didn''t look at me. He just looked at the couple in front of us. He looked frozen, like in a trance. When I looked at him, I noticed that the man and Edan had same colored eyes.


    "I... am not a guard. Tartaros is not a prison."


    "Edan... I know."


    "What ever Tartaros is, it''s really pretty at night."


    "It''s not the only pretty thing." Medusa laughed, but got quiet when he realized when she realized the man was completly serious. Medusa scooted closer to the man.


    "That was the worst pickup line I have ever heard." Man touched Medusa''s chin, tilting her head towards him.


    "I''m not that good at talking anyways."


    "Then what are you good at?"


    "Just shut up."


    Just as their lips were close to each other. I finally got some sense into me. I just yelled: "That''s Louis Braun."

 Chapter 10 - Edan

    The answer to everything I have wanted to know was right in front of my eyes, and was making out with my mom. I didn''t know how to feel.


    I looked at the characters closer. As Andi has screamed, they weren''t in the practising mode. This was something new. Usually when someone, was it either mom or one of my classmates, fought creatures in this room, they were simple things that usually only had two modes: fight or flight. The people in front of me didn''t care that we were here, looking at them and their almost planned story arc.


    "Stop", I said the most confidently I could muster. I touched the guy''s shoulder. Just on impact, both of them detached themselves from each other. They stood up emotionless, like a robot.


    "That man... Louis... He''s like my mom''s boss or something, or at least he reminds me of my mom''s boss. They are like-" I raised my hand to quiet Andi. I walked around the man and looked deeply into his eyes. He was almost the same height as I was, maybe a bit taller. He had blonde hair that looked almost dirty. Still, he had charm that I couldn''t pin point where it came from. He looked like the person you could tell your deepest worries and he would say he could protect you. Most important thing for me was his light blue eyes, ones that I have only seen on me, him... and Serena.


    I tapped the man''s chest couple of times. "Tell me your name, age and relationship with Medusa." I laughed to hide the beating on my chest.


    *"Louis Antoni Braun, Perseus, 21-years old by the time of connection breaking." The voice that came from that things mouth was monotone and strange. "Lover to Medusa for one year, month and 4 days." Even tough a word lover was funny and gross sounding, I didn''t laugh.


    "Who the fuck he is?" I walked closer to Andi. She was literally shaking. I didn''t want her to have a complete meltdown, I knew this whole day has been mind blowing to her, but I wanted to know more. What was he like? Did he laugh a lot? Did he had any other kids? A new family? Did he know I existed? Andi at least knew him and wasn''t afraid of him, which I guess was a good thing. She seemed to be afraid of everything she saw.


    "Like I said, he''s my mom''s boss- family friend, or maybe a work aquaitance. They are are good friends. They work in city hall- They, he- He''s a big deal- " Andi sounded like I broke her. So I was alone.


    I tapped on the chest of my mother''s younger version. "If a child was born to Evalyn... Medusa in April of 2089, would Perseus be the only possible father to that child?" Even if the thing in front of me wasn''t my actual mom, it felt like this was the moment my mom finally talked to me, and finally would talk to me like I was old enough to know these things.


    "Perseus was the only person of male sex Medusa have been romantically connected." I wanted to punch that creature and I wanted mom to feel that. I didn''t know how it would have created, so I just stared those empty eyes that wouldn''t look back at me. Why didn''t she just talk to me?


    "Edan, Can we have a... break?" Andi''s voice sounded like a whisper. She tried to put her arm on my shoulder but I pushed it away. I was fine. I started walking towards the door. She was the one who was having a breakdown because she was like related to me or something. I just heard I wasn''t a lab experiment, like my old bully said when I dumbly beliaved Serena was my actual mom.


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    I was so deep in thought I didn''t notice I was outside. I looked around me, when Sonia grabbed my hand, and forced me to stop. She looked at me like she was trying to read my mind. "What happened there? Tell me everything."


    Smiled even tough I wanted to scream. "Well, I now know who my dad is, so now we both aren''t fatherless anymore."


    Sonia raised her hands to sign several times, but lowered them when she didn''t know what to say. "There''s something else there, isn''t it?"


    "He''s in Ashphodea I guess." I didn''t know Sonia''s could get any better. At the same time, I got an idea. It might be a stupid idea, but it''s the only idea I had right now. "Which means I need to go to Ashphodea."


    "Did you suddenly forget who we are? You cannot be serious. You can not just waltz into Ashphodea." I wanted to argue back, but I literally didn''t have any good counter arguments. I just had to go. Sonia could try to stop me.


    The thick air that was forming around us was thankfully cut by Andi who ran to us. "Edan! Sonia!"


    "What?"


    "We are cousins! isn''t that amazing? Your dad- No, my dad was your uncle. Medusa is my aunt. Isn''t that... Wow!" When I looked at Andi, I could see the family resemblence. Our hair was the same colored dark brown, and our cheekbones were stark. Meeting Andi started to feel like faith.


    "I guess mom has mentioned his brother. At least in memorials." Andi looked like her head was filled with ideas. She was finally going to be useful. "There''s a possibility that I have thousand cousins. Mom never tells me anything anyways."


    "Edan... Could we- You probably want to see Louis, right? Could we cover for each other?" That was the best thing Andi has said. "If you can convince my mom, that i was alright, I can do the same."


    "Sure, go get yourself killed", Sonia signed next to me.


    "Let''s do this. I''ll cover for you if you cover for me."


    "Should we have a cover story?" Andi started walking back and forth. I was worried she is way too neurotic to lie. Sonia wouldn''t lie for me so I had to count on Andi, which I hated. If mom found this out, I would be the only one that will be punished.


    "I will figure out something. You can say anything too. Sonia will help you.* Sonia looked like she wanted to murder me.


    "Oh yeah, I''ll tell them you are in your room and are sulking like a baby." I ignored Sonia, who sounded a bit too serious.


    "I''ll promise you. I''ll make a good cover story." I tried to walk away but Sonia grabbed my hand.


    "You are so annoying, you know that?" We both laughed. " You have your knife. Use it. Even to your dad if needed." I took the knife out of my pocket. Milo and Sonia had given that to me as a birthday present. Even tough it was small, it had several heads that you could use to cut almost everything. It was great when you don''t have another choice.


    I looked to the ground. "I don''t want to leave you alone."


    Sonia punched me playfully. "I have other people I can talk to, dumbass. It''s you that I''m worried about." Sonia took something out of her belt and put it around my wrist. it was a bracelet with a black circle on it. "If I need you to come back, the circle turns red. The other side of this is in my work room."


    I nodded and hugged her tightly. At the same time I gave her the keys I stole from mom. I was maybe impulsive but I wasn''t dumb. I couldn''t bring it to Tartaros.


    I turned to Andi. "I hope you find everything you are looking for."


    "I hope- The same to you." That''s the final thing I heard from Andi before I started to walk towards world I wasn''t allowed to see. The world where I had a dad.

 Chapter 11 - Edan

    I have never been the outside of the walls of the Tartaros. I have always threaten to do it but I never had the guts to actually do it. The fact that I was breaking mom''s rules was heart racing in a good way, at least what I thought was good. I felt free.


    After I got out of Tartaros, the air felt rotten. The air filter Milo built really did their job. It was those things you don''t have to think about until it''s gone.


    The whole time down the mountain where the Tartaros stood, I could not think about dad, my real dad. Only things I knew about him was the things Andi told me and what I saw on that memory, which was more than I knew a day ago. I knew he was some sort of leader like mom. I knew he had my eyes. Other than that we looked nothing a like. He looked charismatic, so he might have a active social life. I hope I could fit in it.


    As I walked into Ashphodea, I could see the differences between each of them with just one glance. Ashphodea was so tidy. Every house was so put together and weirdly aesthetic. Still, none of the houses had any decorations or anything fancy on them. Mom would have painted every house I saw into some shade of rainbow if she was in charge of Ashphodea.


    After I had walked deeper into Ashphodea, wondering what the hell was the security here, I walked into a square where a group of people were standing around around a tall building that was painted dark yellow like a sun that was almost setting. If you are looking for people, you need to go where the people are.


    I''m an expert on dodging people, so I got in front of the people fairly easily. The house was more detailed up close. It had statues around it despicting greek myths.


    I was more focused on the man who was just walking inside the house. He had a beard and longer hair these days, but I regonized him as the same man the memory I had seen. Dad. I tried to get his attention, but I was too late. Too gigantic men blocked my way to him.


    "Where do you think are going, little boy?" One of the men crossed his arm and tried to look big and menacing. Should I have been scared? I didn''t know how to react to him. Should I tremble before him?


    "Only the gods and their affiliates can come in right now and by the looks of you, I don''t think you have a career in politics yet." Even tough I was tall for my age, these men were even taller, by at least a head. I could probably sneak past them if I could. For now, I just smiled and tried to look like someone that wouldn''t do anything suspicious.


    "Do I get in if I have relatives inside?" I batted my eyelashes like little girl. The men didn''t laugh. Were all people here this humorless? "I wanted to suprise me dad at work, but I understand if I can''t come in."


    The other man laughed. "Well, whose your daddy, kid?"


    "Well, my dad is Louis Braun", I said with a smirk on my face. I tried to hold in a laugh when I saw the men''s faces. At the same time they thought I was the biggest bullshitter in all of history, but I knew they couldn''t call me liar.


    "From all the years I''ve known Louis, he has never spoken about a kid of any kind."


    "I never told you how big of a suprise it was going to be." The big men looked at each other confused. At that point I got my opening. I ran past them as fast I could, dodging their hand at the same time.


    I ran to a big hallway that had hundreads of doors all around me. Like in a constant stream, thousands of people came in and out of those doors. All of the people were dressed so cleanly and simply. Mom would have evaporated if she was forced to dress like this.


    The big guys grabbed me in the middle of the hallway. They tried to drag me away but stopped when he realized all the people around us were staring at me, my father in the middle of them.


    "What''s going on? Who is this kid?" Dad looked so confused. I was about to make him question everything.


    I walked closer to Dad. I didn''t know how I should be. Where should my hands be? Should I smile or not? I tried to hide all my anxiety behind a smile. "Hello. I am your son. My name is Edan. Nice to meet you."


    The man looked at me up and down. I couldn''t read his face. I knew my words were hard to prove right, but I''m ready for it. I had all the details I had. I had Andi''s picture. He didn''t have to beliave me yet, but he will me.


    "How old are you?" Dad crossed his arms. He slowly walked around me, looking at me closely.


    "I''m fourteen, Mr. Braun." Mom always nagged me that the first impression was the most important thing, especially if you are trying to charm someone. I tried my best to look like a kid that a important would want as a son. I fixed my posture and put my hands where you could see them.


    "When are you turning fifteen?"


    "April 1st. My... never mind." This was no time for jokes, how obvious they would be.


    Dad shooed away the big guys. He looked deep in thought, hopefully taking in all of the things that came from my mouth.


    "Who is your mother?"


    My whole body froze. There were too many people around us. I couldn''t say it. My mom''s name was like a curse word here. It was literally a death sentence. I had to be creative as I could. So I gave Andi''s picture to dad. "I''m sure you can figure out it by yourself. You seem like a powerful and smart man, I have gotten that genes from you as well, so you can figure out who were you with so you could have this kind of son."


    Dad opened the picture. I smiled as wide as could when dad stared at the picture, and stared at me. He tried to say something but all he could say was mumbles. Finally, something that I could understand came from his mouth: "Does anyone know that you are here?"


    I shook my head, even though it was technically a lie. Andi and Sonia knew, but I knew Louis didn''t give a fuck about them. He wanted to know would one of the Gorgos would follow me and burn the whole Ashphodea to look for me. My answer that was just a shrug. I sincerely hoped Sonia would lie for me. If not, Mom would burn the whole Ashphodea, dad included.


    People around me started to move weirdly. A tall and slim woman pushed people around to get to next to dad. She was the first one in here that stood out from the mass. She was the only one who was wearing bright colors. Her bright yellow dress clashed with her dirty blonde hair and tan skin. I could see her in Tartaros, but she looked like she would kill me if I said it out load.


    Woman didn''t even look at me. She walked up to my dad and linked her arm with him. I could even how much pain my dad was under when her long nails pierced his arm. When she finally looked at me, her face looked manic. "Neela Hayer-Grey. How do you know my Louis?"


    Hayer-Grey. She was Hayer-Grey. Warning bells in my mind started going off. I tried not to show how quite literally freaked out I was. You know that every coup can''t be done if you don''t eliminate the former leader? When Gorgos took over Tartaros, it''s former leader was named Adaine Grey. I had to be my most charismatic self if I want her to keep me alive and not to give her ideas for revenge killing because of her dead mom.


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    "We are as close as a father and son who didn''t know other existed, could be", I said, while flashing a wide smile at the woman. I could see her imagining murdering me right there and then. I was in her territory, it seemed. It wasn''t my fault that she felt threatened by a teenager.


    Neela looked at dad wanting a answer to my words right then. Inside her mind, she was definitely throwing chairs or screaming. "Louis, can we talk just the two of us, please?" She tried to push him away from me but dad stood still.


    "Darling, I got this. Just trust me." I hold in my smile when I saw Neela''s reaction. She looked like she was about to explode.


    "I trust you when you give me a reason to it. I''m not taking in some kid just so you and me can play house. If you really think he''s your son, I won''t ever trust you", Neela whispered between her teeth. I didn''t like how that made me feel. Something shifted in the way dad looked at me after Neela said those words. I needed to make him trust me.


    "You and mom, you met after you arrested her of something, that I don''t know about. You met again in some sort of a ball. Mom had a red dress, and you didn''t have that beard." I laughed nervously while every single person in that room looked at me. "I saw that memory. If you don''t believe me yet, I can''t help you. This is all I have. I know who my mother is, and you and me both know she has only been with on person who could be half of my dna."


    Neela smiled, and held in every single bad thing she wanted say to me. "Well, why are you here now? What makes today so special for us to get to finally meet you?"


    Why today? That is a good question. I already told them about the memory and everything else I should hold in. It was hard. "I just finally had proof who my father was so that''s why I''m here to entertain you. I did get help from a girl who I met on the way here." I didn''t say where exactly I met her on the way, but people wouldn''t probably question me about it, especially Neela.


    "What girl are you talking about?" One of the faces that stared at me walked forward. She was a little older than Neela and dad, dressed in a simple dress that blended her in with the other people in the stream of workers in this building. Only thing that made her stood out was her leg, that was almost like stone. I slowly realized who she was. I had seen her dancing with mom''s brother. That was Andi''s mom and technically my aunt. It was wild to think about.


    "She was quite young, my age or maybe older. She was just wondering around. I don''t what she was doing. She felt lost." It was nice that I could still just speak the truth. I was sure that right now, Andi was walking behind Sonia, with no clue what was going on, like little girl.


    The woman turned to look at dad. "I need to go get her-"


    "You are needed here. I''m sure she is just fine... Edan, right? She was fine, wasn''t she?" Both of them looked at me. I could see Andi looking at me through her mother''s eyes, judging me for blowing her cover.


    "I don''t think so at least."


    "There you have it. She is fine, Julie. She''s a smart girl. It''s good she is on her own adventure to learn skills that she isn''t learning due to not being in the youth program." Dad tapped her on the shoulder. "More important thing is that my son is here now. I need to make him welcomed."


    Julie walked towards me, her eyes piercing me with each step. After she was really close, she hugged me and whispered in my ear: "You''re her son, aren''t you?"


    "Is my dad a womanizer, or something? Could I be a son of anyone else?" Andi''s mom released me from her grip. I could finally understand why Andi was always on a verge of a breakdown. Anyone could become neurotic around her watchful eye.


    "I don''t want to stop this meaningful moment but we have a meeting." I had almost forgotten Neela, who had her disgust painted on her face.


    "Julie could do the notes for this. I need to show my son around before the night." Dad took me by the arm, smiling. Everyone let us get passed when we walked outside. Every worry I had about the doubts Julie and Neela gave him were gone when I saw his smile. "You came in a right place. I can''t stand those meetings. It just blabbering from people who don''t even need to fight or know anything about fighting, especially war."


    "Well, I don''t know about that either. Mom never allowed me." I laughed nervously. We just walked outside. People who were still on there looked at us in the shock on their face, but something stopped them from saying anything. I had a hunch that something was dad.


    "Good that you are here then. I can teach you anything you want about being a man." Dad tapped my back gently, which made people stop staring at me. "I have a dinner party this evening with my co-workers. Do you want to come with me?"


    I felt like my brain exploded. This was all going so fast. It was more than I could ever imagine. "Totally!"


    Dad smirked. I wonder if our smirks were the same. "We just need something fancier to wear. We need to go to me and Neela''s apartment."


    "What Neela was even to you? She is just like a hawk." Dad laughed loudly. I knew there were something between them, but they weren''t like Mom and Serena who still were so lovey-dovey with each other even tough they had been each other for eons.


    "Don''t tell her you said that." Dad ruffled my hair. "Neela is a Hayer-Grey so she is very careful who people closest to her talk to. I understand that, and hopefully you will too. I wouldn''t marry her if I didn''t."


    I didn''t know if I had offended him. I didn''t like it, but that was the first time I felt insecure. I tried to be sorry, to ask for forgivness but I didn''t know how to do it. "Forget what I said."


    Dad didn''t say anything in return. He would have probably forgiven me, if we didn''t come to in front of a giant white building that had several more floors than others around it. "Probably more small than your mom''s but still nice. My castle."


    I was so fixated by the house, I didn''t feel the need to correct him. Even tough I usually slept in Sonia''s place, my technical home was upstairs of the old city hall. Mom said we didn''t need any space because any space should be used by new citizen''s that came in every day. One floor of dad''s house looked a size of my home. If you are a big deal, why can''t you take at least a bit of space?


    We walked inside and I was blinded by the whiteness of the room.

 Chapter 12 - Andi

    Immediately when Edan left, Sonia wrote a one word to the ground: Medusa.I was going to meet Medusa, The Medusa, face to face, and I don''t have to be scared for my life. I didn''t know if I should jump in joy or scream in terror. Like with Edan, when Sonia started to walk away, I followed her.


    When we were back to the city hall building, Sonia pointed at the stairs. I realized slowly that she was going to leave me outside like a pet until she gets permission to let me in, but at least now I got to look at Tartaros while still.


    Because I woke up so early in the morning, I didn''t see many people around Tartaros. Tartaros almost seemed empty before now. Now that the noon was here, street of Tartaros started to fill with different people who looked so individual, so like themselves.


    First person I noticed was a woman whose hair and clothes were bright green. She talked to a man who had pink hair and teal shirt. Woman that walked past them had a giant dress that was colored with all the colors of the rainbow. They all seemed so relaxed and free, compared to me, who couldn''t move an inch due to fear.


    Maybe they were free. I started to notice couple of faces I thought were dead. Couple of old classmates that were announced to be dead by the hands of the Gorgos, a nurse who I heard got a invitation to Elysia. I started to think how many of the people I thought were dead could be here, like Valentina.


    Before I got lost in my thoughts, someone tapped my elbow. I thought it was Sonia, but to my suprise, the Gorgos were behind me, Sonia next to them. They looked weird, like Sonia told them at least something. Medusa raised her hand towards me. Even tough she was wearing a very casual robe, she still looked otherworldly, probably due to her red hair that was put in the loose bun.


    "What''s your name, sweetie?" Eurydale said, when I grabbed Medusa''s hand. She didn''t look scary like she did last night. She looked like she just had a nap. Eurydale''s hair was messy. She was wearing a a loose t-shirt and leggins that complimented her tall and slim legs. It''s weird when the leaders are dressed so casually.


    Behind Eurydale and Medusa stood Stheno who was signing with Sonia. When they were close to each other, I could see they are related. Stheno also didn''t look scary when he didn''t have a gun out. You could see the metallic arm under his top, but his cute round glasses and the ink on his face made him look a bit wholesome.


    "My name... My name is..." I sounded like something inside me broke.


    "Take your time. We don''t bit, if you don''t bite back." Medusa laughed and pointed at the door. Only started to move when the other people started to move too and I could hide behind them.


    "Sonia told me you had something important to tell us. It was so important that they run away from their important... punishment."


    I regretted that I gave Edan Hazel''s picture, or at least that''s what I thought happened. When I touched the place I used to hide the picture, it was still there. When I opened the picture, it was the same picture. I quickly shoved the picture to Medusa and Eurydale. "This is... This is my... My parent''s are in this picture."


    When I gave the picture to Medusa, she dropped the picture immediately. "Oh, don''t give me that. That''s part of a old leaflet that''s so annoying. You can only get rid of it by completly detroying it", Stheno groaned. When I looked at the picture, people did pose like in a commercial.


    I breathed deeply in and out. "My name is Andi Isadora Ruiz. Mother''s name is Juliana Ruiz. Father is... Medusa''s brother, I guess."


    Gorgo''s looked at each other, talking to each other with just eyes. Medusa walked to the desktop and sat in the chair behind it. She put her hands to hide the look on her face. Stheno laughed by himself, trying to stop the silence. Eurydale looked at the floor deep in tought.


    "We were wondering where did Julie hid you." Stheno laughed but the laugh felt empty. He rubbed his forhead, trying to look happy. "When Julie disappeared-" Stheno closed his mouth when Eurydale hit his shoulder.


    "You knew... mom?" Eurydale and Stheno looked at each other. Medusa... She looked at the distance, not noticing anything happening around her.


    "Maybe too well, If I''m being honest. Now none was can... She has made some missions quite difficult." Stheno grinned weirdly. "I know she''s your mother, but I need to say this. If the woman in that picture would see your mother now, I''m sure she would punch herself in the face."


    Eurydale laughed, but tried to hide it when I saw her her looking at her. I was facinated by reaction to Stheno''s joke. They knew her and she was a badass.


    "Your father hated the name Isadora. It was my grandma''s name and the middle name of my mother, but he hated both of them. Your mother still wanted to remember my family somehow, because Andi was important to her family. I think it was either her dead mom or like a cousin. It''s been fifteen years when we last talked about it." Medusa sounded tired. Eurydale walked up to her and put her arms around her. "Milo, try to find Andi''s file. I think it''s still here."


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    Stheno, whose real name was Milo, nodded. He started tapping on her robot arm. A giant flying letters appeared around me. I was so facinated about how his arm worked and what he was doing. Only question that came from mouth was more like a statement. "You are... my family."


    Medusa nodded weakly. "My brother was a good man. He was so happy when he became an actual dad, and not just a subtitute for a father to me and my sister." medusa sighed. "I''m sorry you didn''t get to meet him."


    "Rena, I can''t find Andi. Is the copies still here somewhere? God''s were never that good at ordering good paperwork", Stheno joked and signed something to Sonia. Eurydale whispered something to Medusa and walked up the black and white wall. She touched the wall gently and dozens of cabinets just like in the training room appeared in the wall. She opened the closest cabinet and started reading.


    When everyone was focused on everything else, or they looked like their mind was somewhere else, I started to read the other picture on the wall. It was a news article, sixteen years old at least. The picture on the article was clearly Sonia''s mom standing in front of Tartaros, welcoming you inside. Around her was dozens of beautiful women, some carrying children. When I read the article, it sounded more like a advertisment than a news article.


    New way to save humanity


    Osiria Rose


    We have all felt the effects of World War III in one way or another. We lost loved ones, homes, families and more. We saw a part of the globe where we were still able to live safely dwindle day by day. As the part of the earth we are able to live in shrinks day by day, several will be left behind. Those who are left behind the walls plunder, harm each other, die and forget how to be civilized people. Among those criminals, however, there are some good people, families who have no choice but to live in that polluted world.


    Now that the first set of the Elysia project has left the Earth and the following people for the new world have been selected, the creators of the Elysia project in collaboration with the new I.C.T.A project have found a solution to a heartbreaking problem behind the wall: A place where criminal families become decent citizens and will one day have the opportunity to enter Elysia, the new world.


    Tartaros, a beautiful town in the mountains that was formerly a ruin, has been made into a paradise by the people of I.C.T.A-project. It¡¯s just the kind of place where anyone could start over. Anyone in Tartaros could change quite completely, whether you were a criminal or person with bad luck.


    Of course, we have not forgotten the people inside the walls. You may see the development of the people of Tartaros on your own screens every day, and reward your favorites, or give punishment to those who break the rules. You can even apply to become an employee. With hard work, you may be able to get closer to getting to Elysia. Before that, though, you get to live in Ashphodea, a great city full of the latest technology and fun created as a place where workers and their families can live.


    When I spoke with the leading scientist of the I.C.T.A project, Tomas Henriksson stressed that children are the most important part of why this project is important to everyone involved, himself included. Henriksson said: ¡°I am horrified to think about everything the children experience outside the walls. I am a father myself, so I can imagine how difficult it is for families.¡±


    Don¡¯t be afraid to apply. Ashphodea Mayor Marx Adams, Tartaros Director Roxanne Grey and I, Osiria Rose, are waiting for you with open arms. Let¡¯s make the rest of our lives the best it can be.


    "Only thing left from I.C.T.A''s rule is the thing we use as a training rule and everything inside it. All the other are either replaced by Milo or completly destroyed." I jumped when I noticed Medusa had walked next to me. She still had a scary aura around her, even tough she felt distant.


    "Medusa- Aunt- Ma''am-", I tried to ask something but even being around her made me feel nervous. I had only read so few things about I.C.T.A, that were all linked to the Tartaros project, so I didn''t know what they actually did. It felt weird not to know.


    "Evalyn''s fine. Only people who fear me call me Medusa." She tried to make it sound like a joke, but I really doubt that it was one.


    "I am such a idiot. Andi isn''t Ruiz here." Milo grew the letter before him bigger. "She''s Roseblood here. Julie is a Roseblood, liked it or not. The wedding was too legendary to forget." Every adult looked like he just said the most amazing inside joke. Well, I was more focused on the fact that my name was a lie. I was a Roseblood. Andi Roseblood.


    "I haven''t thought about that day for years. Even Serena was wasted-" Evalyn put her hand to her mouth, when Eurydale, or Serena, reminded her with a look that I was standing next to her.


    "Can I- Can I see my... thing?" I walked next to Stheno. He nodded and I saw the big letters coming out of his hand. It was a short text but it was still there. "Andi Roseblood, infant, 11820513919, Orpheus.".


    Before I could see anything else, the letters disappeared. Milo waved his hand frustrated. "That was a sign that this thing needs tinkering." Milo laughed. "If any other ghost from the past comes by, send them to the workshop." Then Milo left-


    "I think we should head out after him. We have to work. There''s a party today, if you forgot#, Serena said to Evalyn smiling weakly. I was going to offer to help but Evalyn''s questioning look made me freeze.


    "Before that, we need to do a proper protocol to our newest person." Evalyn fixed her posture and smiled. "Hello, what should we call you?"


    I looked at Evalyn''s hand, and her face, trying to deciper what she meant. "I told you. My name is-"


    "I didn''t ask for the name you were born with." Evalyn''s smile was a gentle as she could form.

 Chapter 13 - Andy

    I have never felt so uncertain than in that moment. I eventually found Sonia. I followed her in silence moment that felt like forever. After a moment we arrived at a giant house, that had all sorts of weird machinery inside that I have never seen. In front of me were vehicles, weapons, anything I could name. In the middle of the hall there was even a giant lying robot with a strange cabin on its back.


    We stopped at a little corner where there was a giant wardrobe. Sonia pointed at a small stool next to it. When I sat down on it, Sonia herself started to climb the shelves wildly high. She looked like she was weightless, but probably her climbing skills was due to her boots. I could see some sort of weird gas that came from on the bottom.


    I looked around. I was sitting next to a table that was labeled "need to be fixed". It had two guns. one bigger rifle that had the name "Bonnie Darling" painted on it. Smaller was a small pistol, that had a textbook that read "What wrong with this? Tests show no difference. What happen then?". One that wasn''t a gun was a weird tube that was made few parts. Behind it was a drawn picture where a blue energy came from the tube, like a shield like energy.


    After a moment, Sonia climbed back down gracefully. She had a dozens of clothes in her grip that she drew to me.


    I got up and tried put the clothes on the stool but stopped when Sonia looked at me. When Sonia took the coat on top of the pile and gave it to me, I finally realized that I needed to put these on. Sonia took a rainbow colored shirt and white pants and walked away to somewhere.


    I touched subconsciously my head where i had buttons that would made my glasses appear, if my mom wouldn''t have forced me to leave them back home from the party. I didn''t have an ounce of fashion sense without it. Mom would have probably tracked me if I had my glasses with me, but I could have managed that for a fashion help.


    After a long debate I picked out blue pants that were the most beautiful piece of fabric i have ever seen. One of the pant leg had a forest in a daylight, and one in midnight. I also picked a black blouse with it.


    I never usually dressed... like this. This was the first outfit in a long time I picked for myself. I had never felt this powerful before.


    After some waiting, Sonia came back. She had the rainbow shirt and white pants on it. She looked at me up and down, gave me a approving nod and then she walked behind me.


    Oh yeah, I forgot. My hair was a mess. Edan had cut my hair weirdly. I''m glad I couldn''t see it. "It''s bad, isn''t it?"


    Sonia pulled me on top of the clothes to sit on. Before I could say anything, Sonia had scissors on its hand. I closed my eyes.


    When I opened my eyes, a giant mirror was in front of me. I touched the side of my head. I only had hair on top of my head. When I turned my head around, I could see rose patterns Sonia had made. I... I looked really good. Different, but good.


    I noticed on the corner of my eye how Sonia looked at me. I wished I could talk to her. She patted me on the back and walked in the other direction. When I looked after her, I saw that the sun was setting.


    Sonia told me to follow her and I did, what else could I do. When we walked out, Tartaros had changed in the couple of hours we were inside the weird hall. There were floating lights around us that changed color every so often. I have never seen anything like it. As I looked at the ground, my steps left a glowing footprint on the ground for a moment. I would also swore that the murals were moving. Tartaros¡­ This was like something out of a fairy tale.


    When I followed Sonia deeper into the city, we arrive in the middle of a giant group of people. Party clothes for people of Tartaros were even wilder than their normal clothes. Some of them were only dressed in underwear and shoes. I saw couple of people in old time-y tuxes that were colored rainbow. Sonia had to drag me forward so I couldn''t just stare at people.


    When we''re arrived in front of a house I never had been before, Serena adn Evalyn waited for us. Evalyn was dressed in a small pink dress and a blue fur coat that was too big for her. Serena was dressed in giant heels that mixed into black tight pants. She also was in a tight turtleneck that was hidden behind a similar fur coat than Evalyn''s.


    "Andy darling, you look amazing. Milo has some cool outfits, let me tell you." Evalyn tapped me on the shoulder, trying to make sure she wouldn''t mess with my outfit. Serena tapped on her arm that was glowing.


    "Where''s... Milo?" I tried to remember all the real names of the Gorgos. I tried to be nice and not to think about the things i was taught about them.


    "He''s talking either to O''hara''s, who are in charge the hospital wing, or Samuel", Evalyn said and walked up to a giant door. She opened it dramatically and walked in. "Real party couldn''t start without you."


    When we walked in, everyone on the other side gave us space, even tough the whole place was cramped. When we walked more in the middle of people, I could see their faces that were glowing pure admiration towards the two women in front of me. It was just amazing.


    When we walked to a railing, I noticed the hole in the middle of the room, it had stairs going around it towards a bottom. Have they drilled a hole in the mountain?


    "We need to talk to Samuel before our big speech. We will see you after that next to the stage. Sonia knows where to go. Have fun! Get to know people." Evalyn fixed her coat and looked around. "Sonia. Do you have your bracelet-"


    Sonia wasn''t next to us. I was going to be left alone in a room full of people. Oh no.


    "Sonia is... Sonia. I''m sorry, kid. She will warm up to you", Serena said and put her arm around Evalyn, "Just stay close to the railing, and you will probably find her soon." Before I could say anything else, both women were gone. Family trait, disappearing into thin air.


    Before I went into a full panic mode, I heard Milo''s voice behind me: "Andy, what''s up kid? I want you to meet some people."


    I didn''t realize that Milo meant that i spent hours just talking to people who Milo said worked with him and other Gorgos. He introduced me as his niece, as a family member. People smiled and welcomed me into Tartaros, my new home. I felt giddy every time someone said that. I could have been longer with them.


    One girl, whose name I didn''t remember, pulled me into the stairs. I glided towards the bottom, dancing with a group of girls same age as me. I was so in tune with a music, i didn''t even notice how close one of the girls danced with me.


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    Out of no where, Sonia grabbed my elbow and dragged me away from dancing. She didn''t stop until we were right in the bottom of the hole.


    When we arrived down, I could see a giant dance hall where music blared louder than on the stairwell. There were hundreads of people, maybe almost thousands. They were dancing and laughing without any structure.


    Dancing stopped only when a giant screen flashed before us out of nowhere, with a picture of a Serena and Evalyn on it.


    "How''s it going people?" Everyone around me started a thunderous applause. It reminded me of home.


    "Happy anniversary to everyone", Serena yelled.


    Just as suddenly, Sonia stopped. Her body tensed. I looked ahead. I only saw it for a second, but I could clearly see that the image on the screen was of a beautiful woman with smooth looking hair. Sonia and the Woman had similar angular faces that looked equally serious. I didn''t have time to see anything else before the face changed. It was replaced by a man in his sixties who was as white as a ghost.


    "Your mother was beautiful", I said, even knowning she couldn''t understand me.


    I was about to say something else, but the picture changed again from a round-faced old lady to a dark-skinned, slightly overweight, man with black dreadlocks in a ponytail wrapped around his neck. Father. Then I understood why Sonia didn''t want to pay attention to her mother. It was too much.


    We soon got right next to the stage. We walked up the stairs next to the stage until we got to Serena and Evalyn who were just walking towards the center of the stage. The last character appeared on the screen, and the women started talking again.


    "We will keep them all in our memories." Evalyn pressed one hand to her heart. "But now, we can''t worry all day. None of them would want that. We must celebrate their lives and their legacy to this city. Let''s celebrate as much as we can!¡±


    "So laugh, dance, drink, do whatever you think is the best way to celebrate those who are gone." Serena and Evalyn raised their hands, holding each other''s hands at the same time. At the same time, the audience burst into a roar of a applause. I didn''t even notice it at first, but I clapped along with the other people. I only stopped when Sonia pushed me in front of Serena and Evalyn.


    "Andy! Good that you came. Before we went on stage, we were just talking about you." Evalyn smiled eagerly, glancing back and forth between Serena and me.

 Chapter 14 - Edan

    Ashphodean parties were really different from ones in Tartaros. When we walked to a giant ballroom, I was surrounded by really fancy people. They were all wearing one colored gowns. My mom said that long same colored fabric was really difficult to find these days, so people would stitch different colored fabric to each other and color that. I couldn''t find any stitch marks on anyone around me.


    No one was dancing. Everyone was just... talking and casually drinking. I was almost glued to the dad, when we walked right in. He still had the warmth when he had while showing around town, when he introduced me to his work friends. I hold onto that warmth like it was my life raft.


    Dad''s friends were boring, like so boring. Neela''s brother was snob who didn''t even look towards me. Older man named Marx Adams, who everyone used his first and last name for some reason, told me so much how dad has been a help for years, but he only called me "Louis''s ward". Other people were copies of each other. They were all people around their forties whose only difference were color and lenght of their hair.


    I tired my best to be on my best behavior, which meant being least like myself. I knew he needed to focus on work stuff. I got used to it with mom. I felt better when I noticed Neela had problems to get dad to notice her too.


    The worst part of the party was the invasive questions. When dad''s work friends didn''t talk about work, they loved to ask very dumb questions about mom or the Gorgos. "What kind of person is the famous lady Medusa in real life?", "What punishments has your mom used on you?", "Is it true that she is really Ryn Stormholder, a gangster from outside the walls?"... They never used mom''s name. They always either used "your mom" or "Medusa". Sometimes they used words they really shouldn''t use in front of a teenager.


    Nikolai was the only person who talked to me normally, which suprised me. When he saw me alone next to dad, he didn''t leave beside me. I would have thought that as soon as he found out I was related to his grandmother''s killer, he would try to murder me or something. Instead, he told jokes.


    "Hey, want to bet who is going to embarrass themselves here? Because you are a new here, I''ll give you a little hint. Neela becomes really funny after few drinks."


    "That would make this party so much better", I laughed.


    "I would love to sneak out of here." Nikolai said. I got excited, but came down to earth when Nikolai walked away to talk to his friend or his dad. He had his own friends, and I didn''t have the guts to throw myself in the middle of Nikolai''s friend group. I didn''t want to ruin his night.


    When I didn''t want to be around people, I went into an adventure into the house I was in, trying to find some secrets. I walked up the stairs that had weird scars in it. On top of the stairs were dozens of doors. Between the doors were pictures of humans I saw down stairs. One of the biggest pictures was Marx Adams and a woman who looked like she has never smiled.


    As I walked down the hallway, I shortly arrived to the glass door that was open. Outside the door was a terrace that was broken in pieces. It was clearly tried to be fixed a bit, but not enough. If I wanted to relax a bit, or just run away, this was the spot.


    I stood on the edge of a terrace without a railing. I breathed in and out and looked at the town under me. I couldn''t take it all in tough. I heard dad''s voice behind me: "Here you are. You just disappeared. Are you alright?"


    "It looked like you were fine without me." I tried to make it sound like a joke but it sounded more like me being bitter. Dad walked next to me and sat down, pushing me away from the ledge at the same time.


    "I''m sorry. I thought this was a perfect place to introduce you to Asphodea in my eyes without.. I forgot how taxing my work could be." Dad opened his hair from a ponytail and made it a mess.


    "Don''t apologize, please. You are at work. I shouldn''t... I don''t know." I crawled into a ball. I wanted rip the clothes I was wearing. I wasn''t some sort of fancy pants like other people here.


    "Edan... I am really happy that you are here and you exist." Dad smiled gently. "My life just isn''t made for other people than my work. It takes time for me to used to this. I need to keep this town up so your mom won''t destroy it."


    I looked at dad. "I get it. I''m in your way."


    Dad grabbed my hand. "Edan... Even if it takes time, I want to give you my time. I want to get to know you, to be your family. I want to learn to be with you."


    I smiled back at dad. "I''m not good with people too, but I want to get to know you, and other people who are not from.. you know where." Dad ruffled my hair.


    "Most important thing in this life is allies. Here you can find plenty of them." Dad stood up and raised his hand, so that he could raise my up. "I have so much to teach you. This world needs good men."


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    I didn''t take dad''s hand but I smiled. "I don''t want to be with the old dudes. If you don''t mind, I will stay here."


    Dad laughed and stood up. "I promise we can leave soon. I''ll just talk to Neela''s brother a bit. Then we can go." Dad walked up to the door but stopped before leaving. "Let''s go shooting tomorrow. I''ll show you the best place in town."


    I turned away from dad, just breathing in and out. I wanted to go full existential about what did dad''s warm tone meant and how happy I felt, but a woman''s scream stopped me from doing anything. Now I had a decision to make. I could be a obedient son and wait for dad here, or I could be my nosy self and go look what was happening down the streets.


    I was annoyed by how predictable I was. I looked around and spotted a place I could jump so I could get safely down without hurting myself. Then I just jumped and begged I wouldn''t make any noise. That was kind of possible but thankfully no one heard me. I sneaked towards the sound, jumping to roof to roof.


    On a small alley right below me walked two men, who were dragging a young woman between them. The woman tried desperatly to get out, but was too weak against two giant men. They were walking towards a house in the edge of Ashphodea, that was hidden in the branches. I could only see him up on the roof I was in.


    I tried to climb down gracefully to hear what the men said. Thankfully our very dangerous games with Sonia came in use in that moment. I have gotten enough brain damage in my childhood to fall down safely.


    When I fell down, I crashed into a some sort of trashcan. "Did you hear something, Caleb?" The bigger one of the said to another. I hid when I saw he was about to grab some sort of gun.


    "It was probably wind or some drunk partying", the skinnier of the men said, "Bet it''s the Hayer girl who has gotten so drunk because he had to stare at that Braun Bastard the whole night."


    Both men cackled. "Did you heard about that mess the boy did with him waltzing in? I heard Hayer was this close to punch the child." I tried to not make sound but I really wanted to laugh.


    "Where are you taking me?" The woman between the men shouted. Until now, she had only shouted and cursed those two men in every possible way. I didn''t know the woman, but I was impressed by how many swear words she knew.


    "Shut up even for a moment!" Another man, whose name I didn''t hear, tied a piece of rope over the woman''s mouth with one hand. "Really, we are paid far too little for nights like this. The next time I see Poseidon''s snobbish face, I''ll either punch him or force him to give us a raise.¡±


    That was the last thing I heard. After that, the trio disappeared into the side street, too fast. I ran after them as silently as possible, hiding just in case whenever I saw any light. Mom would be proud of me.


    The trio finally made it to the house they were going to. I didn''t see any kind of guards and cameras there, although the house looked like a prison. It was surrounded by only a fence and a gate, which I easily jumped over. Growing up in Tartaros came in handy again. I just got to the door as it was about to close. I quickly hid under the first desk I saw.


    The hallway was so dark, I didn''t see anything. Only light I could see was coming from tiny windows that were in every door in the hallway. After the woman''s scream stopped, I stood up.


    When i stood up, I accidentally dropped a couple of papers on table I was under in. I tried to read them, but I could only see couple of boldly written words like "I.C.T.A", "Izaiah" and "experiment". Other looked like science language I couldn''t understand or couldn''t read.


    I was more interested in blue lights around me anyways. I sneaked closer to the window and looked inside.


    I put my hand in front of my mouth so I couldn''t scream. On the other side of the window was a completely white room with only one thing inside. In the middle of the room hovered an old woman, kept aloft by long blue tubes that came from all around the room. The tubes were stuck into the woman, one in her mouth. The woman''s eyes were completely white. His face was blank. She was¡­ She was definitely dead.


    I lost my balance in pure shock. When I slipped, I could hear voices coming towards me. I was in panic. I opened the opposite door from the flying corpse and ran in.


    I realized too late, what I did. When I tried to open the door again, I could feel the door lock. Hades. The color in the room changed from the light blue to dark red. Fuck. I kicked the door, shouted, hit, tried to do anything. However, the door remained closed. I tried to shout for help, but the door was soundproof. I had always known I would die because of my own stupidity, but I never thought it would happen this early. Mom yes always- No, I can''t think of Mom right now.


    I got something else to think about very quickly, when small tubes that had small spikes on top of them came out of room that looked like small snakes from old movies. Knife, I had my knife with me. I desperatly grabbed Sonia''s and Milo''s birthday gift.


    Spikes approached too slowly. I held the knife in front of me. My whole body was shaking. If the situation was any other way, or if I had been warned that I would have to fight, I would have already charged towards the pipes, knife swinging. That woman''s face, it haunted me. What had those pipes done to her? What had she done to deserve that faith? What had I done to deserve this?


    I successfuly cut two of the tubes. A pale green substance splattered from inside them, hissing as it hit the ground. Call me dark, but I imagined dying in a very dramatic duel where I would die for a small loyal group I lead, not from a poion in a freak accident.


    There were too many spikes. I dropped my knife on the ground. This was the end for me. I wanted to apologize to mom, dad, Sonia, so many people I''ve been such a jerk to over the years. I wanted to send a message to Sonia. He would come to save me. The mothers would be so grateful, they would give her a place in the Gorgos. I would be most proud of her, and I wouldn''t be bitter at all. I wouldn''t listen to anyone who scoffed that I wouldn''t get into the Gorgos. I just wanted to be home. I wanted my mom. Mum.


    The door swung open behind me. I fell to the floor. Louis and Neela were staring at me above me. Dad took me in his arms. I couldn''t move. One of the spikes had hit me. Neela and Louis shouted at each other but it all sounded like mumbling. The last thing I heard was my father''s words before I passed out.


    "Edan, we''re going to the doctor. Now!"

 Chapter 15 - Andy

    I don''t know when I woke up. The last memory I had in my head, was the little boy that Evalyn and Serena helped. At some point of between this moment and last nigh, I had been either lead or walked myself into a bed that wasn''t mine, and fell asleep. When I tried to stood up, I felt the whole room shaking. Where was I?


    I could have been in awe of the room, if I knew where I was. It was a small room filled with machines and pictures I didn''t know the use of. In the middle of all that was a table filled with pictures and photos. Most of the pictures was drafts on ideas, or pictures of Gorgos or Edan. When I clawed myself closer to the table, one picture stuck out to me.


    One of the pictures was old and bit worn out. It was Sonia''s parents. They stood with their backs against each other, arms pointing at the photographer. Behind them was a young boy who was so far away, only part of his body was visible.


    Before I could guess who the boy was, the door opened in front of me. Sonia entered with a serious expression on her face. He walked over to the desk, and opened a giant bright screen. I did not say anything. I just closed my eyes and imagined I wasn''t close to throwing up.


    "Party was so wild. I had to drag you up here, so you can sleep." Every letter that Sonia typed into the device I heard as a monotonous voice. I didn''t remember drinking anything yesterday. I''ve never drunk anything stronger, so I would remember if I had.


    "I don''t know- I followed¡­ and then I had to- What happened to me?" A small smile grew on Sonia''s face. She leaned back a bit and looked me up and down. Then she turned back to her desk.


    "Wait, did you follow aunties? Okay, Edan should have warned you. We never put you on the Tartaros roster so there''s a lot places you cab''t go without me and Edan. One of them is the secret room. You get a shot liquid that''s in my uncle''s cartridge. Don''t worry, it''s so small you are fine now. Bit woozy probably. They are the best sleeping pills."


    My head felt so messed up. I didn''t want to ask anything. I just wanted to go back to the ground, but I didn''t want the room to fall over. "Where are we?"


    I crawled next to the nearest window. We were really high, way too high for my taste. The whole of Tartaros could be seen from the window, and even Ashphodea as a small speck. When I looked down, I saw a work shop, the work shop I was on yesterday.


    "We are in my workshop. Me and Milo built it in the best place in the hall, i.e. on the back of Milo''s aborted robot project. By the way, you are surprisingly heavy." Before I could ask anything, Sonia stood up and put two shoes on my lap. After some bad gesturing, I realized I had to put them on.


    I tried to put the shoes on as smoothly as possible, but it was tiring to move around. In order to get my mind off all this, I tried to be as relaxed as possible and ask Sonia something insignificant: "Sonia, why do you- by the way- have a bed in your- very- strange study?"


    Sonia laughed and walked back to her screen. "Edan sometimes sleeps here if he''s with me maybe too long. For some reason, he likes sleeping places that are a bit dangerous." Sonia glanced in my direction and laughed. He walked over to me and put my shoes on properly. I didn''t want to show it, but my cheeks got a little red.


    ¡°These are so¡­ interesting. Thank you." Sonia smiled widely.


    Sonia walked back to the table. "You''re welcome. They are my own invention. Life in Tartaros will be easier with them. You will no longer be dizzy." I got up. I¡­ I no longer had any problems standing up. I bounced and spun, but stayed upright.


    ¡°Th-thank you.¡±


    "By the way, I also had a point. You have a meeting there in the arena where we saw those memories yesterday.¡± That was the last thing Sonia''s computer said. After that, Sonia immersed herself in the secret of holograms and other images. I still had dozens of questions for her. Instead, I opened the door and tried to get off the robot without breaking any bones.


    Surprisingly, it was much easier than I imagined. Walking on the metal surface of the robot was like walking on air. I even jumped to the ground from quite a height and didn''t get hurt.


    Those shoes gave me a strange confidence. I just felt¡­ free. I waved at people as I ran down the paths of Tartaros. I looked around like a little baby, basking in the adrenaline my new toys were giving me. I got to the dome very quickly.


    Medusa, aka Evalyn Roseblood, aka my aunt Evalyn Roseblood, stood in the middle of the hall, holding the well known board to me in her hands. Around her were dancing couple, woman and a man, who were fully enchanted of each other. Men''s hair reached down on his shoulders. Woman looked so elegant with flowers in her hair. I could hear a small melody around them, but it sounded broken. I recognised her immediately as Evalyn and Louis. Well, as Louis and Evalyn i saw last night.


    "What''s wrong with this machine?" Evalyn mumbled, "Why that particular memory?" I tried to walk next to the woman as quietly as possible so I could hear more of Evalyn''s mutterings. However, Evalyn was more receptive than I imagined. she raised her head and turned towards me with a big smile on her face.


    "Andy! I didn''t wait for you for a moment. Usually Edan and Sonia sleep almost the whole day the morning after the anniversary, unless they are woken up." Evalyn tried to look calm, but her blinking at the happy dancing couple was almost neurotic. ¡°I''ve had some technical problems this morning. I informed Milo about the problem a moment ago, but it will take a while when he comes here. He''s helping Samuel right now."


    I tried to stop my delusional thoughts, but my superficial thoughts were screaming at me that this was all our fault. The card Tomas gave was still upstairs. Maybe it was- No, it wasn''t our fault. It couldn''t.


    "Hey, you don''t have to be nervous. This is not your fault. We can still practice." Evalyn smiled and put her hands on my shoulders. ¡°I know this situation is very strange. However, I promise you''re in good company here. I want nothing to trouble you here."


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    don''t know what would have come out of my mouth if I had made any kind of noise. That''s why I just nodded. Evalyn smiled gently. He thought about something for a moment, and took three steps back. I looked around nervously as my first thought was that Evalyn had set off some kind of trap. Then the ground around me started to open.


    When I looked back at Evalyn, she was typing something randomly on the tablet. His reaction became more aggressive when nothing came up from the openings. The ground just shook so much under my feet, I was afraid I would fall into one of these holes.


    "Well, I guess we are not doing my plan. I thought today would be a good time to test which weapon would be best for you.¡± Evalyn looked me up and down questioningly. ¡°I won''t let you in Serena''s class until I know how good you are with guns. Even though I haven''t seen your mother in years, I don''t want the next meeting to start with her murdering me because you didn''t know how to use a rifle.¡± A nervous laugh escaped Evalyn''s mouth.


    "You did see her, when.. When you got..." I don''t have no idea what I should call Sonia''s father, Hazel''s husband. He was this small and weak little man, who was a monster in the eyes of a woman, who was a monster in the man''s eyes.


    "I''m sorry I scared you. I know I can be a bit scary. I promise it wasn''t my purpose." Evalyn raised her hands up, and soon her swords arrived to her hands just like in the party. I almost fell down in shock. Evalyn didn''t even flinch.


    I slowly walked next to Evalyn. Evalyn held the swords in front of her. I forgot all my anxiety, when I stared at those sparkling swords. My urge to get information is more important than stressing out. "How... How did your swords work? Is it a some sort of mechanism? Is it a button? I-" I pressed my hand to my mouth. "I''m sorry. You are the teacher. I should listen to you."


    Evalyn pressed one of the swords into my hand. I held it by the handle like it was the most valuable thing in the world. ¡°Watch it as much as you want. Milo is a genius in weapon manufacturing.¡± Evalyn winked at me and put the other sword on the floor. I was close to throwing up when the next thing Evalyn did was to put her hand under her skin.


    Before I fainted, I realized it wasn''t her skin. As Evalyn slowly threaded her hand along her other arm, a thin light gray glove appeared on her hand.


    "Because we can''t practice with any other weapon, you get to do something a lot of other people can''t do this. You get to use my sword." I could feel my eyes sparkling. My hands were shaking. I took the glove and put it in my own hand. As soon as the fabric of the glove touched my skin, I could not see the gray fabric. However, I could feel the fabric and the odd button pressing slightly against my palm.


    "How did it¡­ How did it blend into human skin?" I gently touched my hand. My hand felt like my own from the outside. I turned my hand from side to side. Evalyn looked at me with a grin.


    "It is really cool, isn''t it? Milo explained that the fabric blends in with your DNA. The button disappears almost completly." Before I could ask anything about the button or other mechanisms, Evalyn grabbed the sword in my hand and threw it across the hall. "Okay, now press the center of your palm with the fingers of the same hand, and reach for the sword. Remember to stand in a stable position so you don''t fall and hurt yourself."


    I couldn''t stop my hand from shaking. My gaze was glued to the sword that was too far away. I reached out and slowly pressed the palm where the button was. I closed my eyes. This didn''t feel as smooth as what Evalyn had done, far from it. After a while, I felt the hard metal hit my hand so hard that I staggered back a couple of steps. When I opened my eyes, Evalyn''s sword sat gracefully in my hand.


    "There should be a very strong magnetic energy between the button inside the glove and the sword. You should ask Milo about the mechanics in more detail." Evalyn pressed the glove on her own hand. At the same time, the sword on the floor rose gracefully into her hand. "You can only activate the power with the fingers of the same glove. So you can, for example, shake hands with people without the risk of the sword cutting off someone''s hand by accident."


    I twirled the sword in my hand. When I looked at the sword more closely, I saw a dark red color under the vines decorating the sword. I gently touched the decorative vine and pulled it a little. To my surprise, I was able to pull the vine really far. I stopped pulling when I saw the look on Evalyn''s face, which was a kind way of saying I should stop what I was doing right now.


    ¡°Want to see how those wines work? Wait a moment." Evalyn walked up to the dancing couple and tapped the man on the shoulder. Evalyn grabbed the man''s hand. After a while, the man started running along the edges of the hall. "We can at the same time see how good you are at throwing. Try to hit Louis in front or behind him. Don''t hit the creature. We don''t want to kill it."


    I still couldn''t say a word. Shaking, I raised the sword and waited for a moment as Louis, or rather a copy of Louis, was right in front of me. Then I threw the sword as hard as I could. However, I should have remembered that the muscles in my arms were completely non-existent. The sword only flew halfway across the hall.


    I looked in Evalyn''s direction, trembling. She just laughed. ¡°Yeah, this is really tricky. Do you want to try again?¡± As I shook my head, Evalyn patted me on the shoulder and smiled. She then threw the sword in her hand directly in front of the man. Louis'' copy didn''t have time to react before the vines started to grow, covering half of the man in a second. As the copy of Louis tried to remove the sword, the vines became agitated. The more he tried to free himself, the faster he became covered in vines. ¡°Those are really useful when you don''t want to kill anyone. Or, if you want to trap your target."


    "What would happen if someone stole the gloves?" I slowly handed the glove back to Evalyn without looking at her at all. Evalyn herself moved in the direction of my gaze. Evalyn took off her other glove and rolled up her sleeves. A box similar to Tomas''s, albeit a much healthier looking one, appeared from under the glove. "The glove recognizes every person and code that is from Tartaros, or is a Roseblood like you and technically your mother, because of these things."


    " How- Where-" I looked at my hand nervously, but I didn''t see anything in it. Before I began to question my existence, Evalyn patted the small scar on my arm.


    "It''s under that scar." Evalyn smiled gently.


    "How do you know that?"


    "I was present at your birth. Or the part when they said that they also put these devices on newborns.¡± Evalyn laughed nervously. "I was forced out of there because I hit the doctor who took out the knife." A loud giggle escaped my mouth.


    "You really didn''t..."


    "I had to protect my new niece." Evalyn messed my hair. He smiled widely, but there was something sad in his eyes. "I was ready to be the best aunt ever. Your father could never have taught you to fight as well as I did.¡±


    "I¡­ I would have loved that." There was a warmth in Evalyn''s eyes that I hadn''t felt before. When I started thinking about it, it would have been nice to grow up with Sonia and Edan, to really become their friends. I would have gone to school here and I would already been as skilled a fighter as my own aunt.


    Our warm moment was suddenly interrupted. Serena suddenly opened the hall door. She was much different than last night. She looked like he had seen someone die. Noticing me, she forced a small smile on her face and quickly walked over to Evalyn''s side. ¡°I''m sorry to interrupt class, but I have to steal Evalyn.¡± As the women looked at each other, the concern on Serena''s face transferred to Evalyn. "Milo sent a messege." Same time Serena talked, she was doing same hand moves Sonia was doing.


    "I guess our little teaching lesson is cut short. Let''s continue this later, Andy." Evalyn ruffled my hair and took both of her swords. Both of them rushed away from the room leaving me only the tablet and the endless opportunities to see in it.

 chapter 16 - Edan

    I woke up slowly. I wanted to pretend that I was asleep on my own bed and mom would wake me up soon. When I opened my eyes, I was in a hospital room, Nikolai sitting next to my bed.


    "Good morning!" Nikolai smirked. He wrote something somewhere i couldn''t see it.


    "How long was I out?" I tried to sit up, but I was tied to the bed. I fell down back to lie down.


    "Only for the night."


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 Chapter 17 - Andy

    I was alone in a hall filled with endless possibilities. I could go to do what ever adventures with my new cousin Sonia. The whole Tartaros was my playground. Still, my mind was fixated on Medusa''s words. This hall has started to malfunction when we had put Tomas''s card in the machine.


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 chapter 18 - Andy

I ran towards Sonia''s home with a fire on under my ass.


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 Chapter 19 - Edan

    Of course my happiness didn''t last long. Right after me and dad walked out of the shooting range, my bracelet started sparkling. It only meant one thing. Sonia was going to get me. Why now?


    I turned to dad, hiding my bracelet behind my back. "Dad, I just remembered that I have to do something, but I don''t want to cut this short-"


    "Oh don''t worry. I need to get back to work anyways." Dad straightened his coat. "If you are out late, come straight to my place. You can sleep in the guest house."


    "I can sleep in your place?" My voice was shaky. My voice was never shaky.


    "Of course. My son should have a room to be in in his dad''s place." My dad shaked my hair and walked away, leaving me stunned in place.


    I felt a bit guilty. I wanted to live with my dad, my mom''s number one enemy. My mind spinned with ideas and scenarios. Maybe I could stop the war and bring both of the cities to peace.


    When I was in the edge of the mountain where Ashphodea ends, I saw mom ship coming toawrds us. My heart dropped. I started running towards it, hoping that it wasn''t the worst case scenario. I let out a sigh when I saw Sonia on the driver''s seat and my cousin haning into the ship with the edge of her life.


    Sonia steered the ship right in front of me. "What''s up, dork? How brainwashed are you already?"


    "Why did you ordered me here?"


    "Oh, this one found something interesting. She wanted to get you." Sonia pointed at Andi, who had her eyes tightly closed. When I tapped her on the shoulder, she jumped in panic.


    "Edan! We are already next to Edan... God that was fast." Andi was still holding on the seat like she was going to die if she let go.


    "What was the important thing you wanted us to hear?" I leaned closer to Andi.


    "Oh... Oh! I might know where your- our aunt is!" Andi looked so hapoy with the information. Smile in my face was gone. I stood up straight, trying to understand her words.


    "What are you talking about? She''s dead." When I thought about my words, I have never felt less certain of my words. I guess I didn''t know what my mom had hidden from me in these years. I thought Andi and her mom was dead. What dicatates that my aubt wasn''t alive as well?


    "I saw... I saw a memory where your mom was pregnant and... she was there... and I know where they took her." I jumped into the back seat and gave Sonia the sign to go. This could be huge, like a final reason to actually move with my dad.


    "Where is she? What building is she in?" I asked while we were traveling back to Tartaros.


    "Well... I mean... they talked about a hospital and they were next to a grey looking building. So I guess there."


    I had a hunch of what she was talking about. Tartaros had a hospital, this gray old building that I have never been to. Mom loves to visit there. She goes almost once a week there. I always thought she did it to boost the morale there bedore she vitisted the graveyard, but I guess she did something sinister too. I knocked Sonia''s shoulder and sighned: "gray building next to the old playground."


    Our travel there went fast. I was just inside my head, getting prepeared to see yet another family member my mother didn''t allow me to meet. As we arrive just in front of the building,


    I walked in with way too much confidence, girls right behind me. My confidence dropped immiditely when I saw who was inside. I dragged girls somewhere to hide.


    Mom was standing in the front desk, talking to a boy that''s younger than him. She looked... dirty. Her clothes were messy and her hair didn''t look shiny. I have never seen mom look that untidy. The boy she was talking to, who looked like his head was covered in freckles, looked at mom like he wanted to hug her.


    "You''re really sure you don''t want to see her? I think it would be good. She just gets confused that you-", boy tried to talk to mom but she didn''t listen.


    "Evan, just tell me if she''s alright." Boy whose name was Evan, put his arms behind him.


    "She''s okay. We went to a walk yesterday outside. You know, you really should meet with her. She would really like if you just-"


    "Please spare me with that today. I just want to know that she is okay and bring the gift I gave you. "


    "You hired me to take care of her and I think her seeing her sister is a best thing to her right now. She''s really lonely." Couple of workers who were dressed same as Evan, in pink shirt and pants, ran past us. I used them as cover so I could drag all three of us to the hallway next to mom and Elias.


    "If it wasn''t for Afrodite, I wouldn''t have never hired you." That was the last thing I heard from mom. We stood in a hallway, just listening to their talk. We didn''t know where to go. There were signs and people everywhere but nothing to clue us where to go.


    "Oh, the parkour girl. Did you want that therapy lesson?" When I looked forward, the kid mom was talking to stood in front of us, looking at Andi.


    "No... I... we..." Andi looked at me and Sonia in panic. I stepped in front of them.


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    "We are the company for... Kelsie. I''m Edan."  Evan''s eyes widened.


    "Oh my name twin! Well, almost. Your mom didn''t tell you were coming. I guess she finally told you everything. Times really are changing." I wish that was the case. I wish mom had changed but she still hides the truth. I need to see it myself to finally know it.


    I smiled at Evan. "Yeah, mom is sometimes full of suprises."


    "Demeter will love you. Come on." Evan started to walk towards stairs. Sonia tried to grab my shoulder but I pished her away. I wanted to focus on this. To figure out who the damm Demeter is. To figure what made mom just lock her sister up. Was she some murderous maniac? Was she danger to herself?


    We finally reached two floor up. When Evan opened the door, one big giant space opened before me. It was filled with fake flowers that looked real. Gentle music was playing from spots I couldn''t see. All the walls were painted to depict places I didn''t regonize.


    On the middle of that room was a short and slender woman who was smelling the flowers. Her head was completly shaved. In the place of hair was tattoos of flowers. She was wearing a floor lenght gown that made her look like she was floating.


    "Evan! I didn''t wait you back till night. I made you a flower crown." Woman tipped over us and put a small flower crown on Evan''s head. After she looked at Evan in a dazed look on her face, she turned to us. "Who are you, my new friend?"


    Andy started to speak with a shaky voice. "I''m Andy, this is Sonia and this is Edan. We are-"


    "-interns." Andy looked at me weirdly. I... I didn''t have the heart to tell the truth yet. She looked like she didn''t know where she was. She stared out into the darkness and not even to me.


    All of a sudden, her expression changed. She became more smile-y but she took a step away from us. "I''m sorry, who are you?"


    "We just said-"


    "Demeter didn''t tell me who you were. She just said interns... wouldn''t interns know this?" Kelsie looked at Evan, who looked at us.


    "They haven''t heard a lot of things yet."


    Kelsie talked to Evan in just stares, arguing about something. After a while she looked back at us. "I don''t know how to talk to teenagers, but basically... I have friends inside my head. Thanks to Evan, I know how to talk to them."


    "I have read so many old medical books to learn about, and of course I talked to all of them. Apollo, Artemis, Demeter... and the others." Evan walked towards Kelsie, and more inside the giant room. "Demeter didn''t do much. Just something with flowers."


    I carefully walked behind Evan. Andy had some weird doe look on her face when she followed me, looking around. Sonia walked beside me, staring into my deep soul.


    "Can I ask... Why are you here?" Andy asked.


    Kelsie sat on the ground that looked like fresh cut grass that was greener I have never seen in any other place. After Evan sat down, I sat next to him. "My sister... she thinks we are safer here. I think... this is for the best. I do miss having more people around.  Thankfully I still have Evan."


    "And I''m stuck here." Evan laughed and he and Kelsie shared a warm look. "That remined me, I have to give you this."


    Evan took a box from his back pocket and gave it to Kelsie. As Kelsie opened the box, Andy had started walking toward an unfinished wall depicting a woman looking at a waterfall.


    "Don''t touch that!" As Kelsie looked at a necklace that she found on the box, something shifted in her. She became more rigid. Smile left from her face.


    "I''m- I''m sorry. It''s just... It''s pretty. You are talented." Kelsie, or someone else from her head, stood up and walked next to Andy. "It''s this what you do all day?"


    "Artemis, be nice to her. She''s young." Evan tried calming Kelsie down. "Don''t worry. She doesn''t bite."


    Artemis looked Andy up and down. "I don''t know who you are but something doesn''t feel right about you. Have they really been background checked? Or did you just waltzed right in to look at the crazy girl."


    "Artemis-" Evan stood up and walked closer to Artemis, but with every step, Artemis walked away from him.


    "No, none of that calming shit. These teens are some fucking ruse from the snakes. Or like she still thinks we are a teenager and not in our fucking twenties." Artemis hit Evan on his chest.


    "We didn''t want-" Artemis stopped when Andy opened her stupid mouth. "We just wanted to meet our aunt. My name is Andy Ruiz. That''s Edan Roseblood."


    "What are you talking? You''re... You''re his kid." Artemis looked out of focus. She just stared at Andy with a dazed look. Two nervous laughs came out of her mouth. "Brother, please help her."


    Artemis leaned forward and slowly her face looked more and more scared. She was clearly a new person now. She looked around, scared of where she was. "Even if you run away from your family, you can''t run away from your destiny. Father''s blood, mother''s blood, all solid gray. Mistakes come, mistakes go. Woman who destroyed her family. If you believe wrongly, only the ashes remain and the figure of darkness remains, triumphant. Don''t let them win. Don''t let a someone whose brain is blinded by their false dreams win.¡± I tried to take my eyes off the woman, but I couldn''t.  ¡°He''s already almost broken one mind. Don''t let it happen. I-"


    Evan rushed next to the girl. He didn''t touch her but took something out of his pocket. It was a small bottle that let out a nice smell when the man took the cap off the bottle. "Cassandra. IT''s fine. They aren''t here to hurt you.  You are safe."


    ¡°What¡­ did she just say?¡± I didn''t know where to look or what to do. Kelsie''s words, or Cassandra''s, or whoever she was at the moment, kept running through my head. She was¡­ her words sounded absurd and reasonable at the same time. I just needed to hear more.


    Her panic was cut short though, when Cassandra became a bit relaxed and dazed again. She just whispered: "Don''t worry, I get her." Soon, Kelsie smirked. She straightened her stance and look straightly at me. "Sorry about that. Cassandra holds... some trauma that you are too young to know about."


    "What was she talking about?"


    "Like I said, don''t worry about it." Kelsie tapped Evan''s shoulder and walked towards the door. "I think this family meeting should end now. It was nice meeting you. I''d say it was nice to meet you, but honestly... Evan, can you get them out?"


    Evan walked towards the door and opened it. "Let''s go kids." I wanted to protest but I couldn''t do anything else but walk behind Evan away from the room. Only after we were on the hallway, Evan opened her mouth. "I''m sorry. *I could have guessed that Artemis would throw a fit. She doesn''t really like Tartaros in general."


    "What exactly was Kelsie-Cassandra talking about?" Andy asked cautiously. Good thing he said that. I was somehow afraid to ask about it again.


    ¡°You''ll have to ask Evalyn about that. I- I have my obligations that keep me from saying anything about it, but¡­ Kelsie was the youngest of the Roseblood children, and like all of her siblings, experienced a lot of horrors. Our bodies process such horrors differently. This is his way of processing it.¡±


    "I just know it''s because of mom." My voice was like a mumble, but my mind was loud as you can be. My mother had locked her sister up just because she hated her. I wanted to throw up.


    "Trust me. You don''t know nothing." That was the last thing Evan said to me when we were back downstairs. He was wrong. I knew very well what she was talking about. Evalyn has done a lot of bad things during her reign. Destroying her siblings was one thing. That''s what Kelsie was talking about. I had to choose the right side, and I know what to choose. I will not destroy my own destiny.

 Chapter 20 - Edan

    I was trying desperately to get mom ship to start, when Sonia jumped to the place next to me. "What are you trying to do?"


    "I''m going to move in with my dad." I looked at Sonia''s eyes. I tried to hold on to my determination, but look on Sonia''s face made me second guess everything I was trying to do. "You can''t stop me. Gorgos are liars. They keep an innocent woman locked up. What else they are doing?"


    "That''s what you got from her words? You are going to the opposite side just because you heard mumbling of some estranged aunt." I wanted to look away from Sonia. I hated how I had to look at her to talk to her. Just by looking at her I started to feel guilty of the thoughts in my head. Just not enough to change my mind.


    "it''s not just this. It''s everything. It''s every single thing. My dad has always been straight forward with me. He hasn''t lied to me like my mom constantly keeps lying. I want to live with him." I kept dodging Sonia''s gaze, and only looked at her hands. "Wouldn''t take that chance, if you were given one?"


    "How would I know? My dad is being tortured right now." Silence fell between us. I wanted to apologize but couldn''t. Instead I looked Sonia straight into her eyes, trying to be as stern as possible.


    "Your dad might be an asshole, but mine isn''t." Sonia laughed.


    "One is a asshole who will betray your trust when you least know it."


    "You don''t know that!"


    "You are not in a stage to be talked to. I just want you to know that i will be your big sister, liked it or not. We are family, not some asshole who has been hiding in Ashphodea 15 years." I looked away from Sonia.


    I pushed ships''s door open. "I''m sorry. You should get out if you don''t want to come with me. You can''t stop me." I could feel Sonia''s eyes drilled into me. Instead of any aggression, she put her hand on my face and made me look at her.


    "Push the bracelet if you need me. I will come to get you, okay." Sonia hit my shoulder playfully. "You''re on your own now. Don''t fuck it up."


    Sonia got off the airship and I went off. I tried to focus my thoughts on dad and my new life, but I couldn''t stop thinking about Sonia. She didn''t have any other family than me and the Gorgos. I had more options. I had dad now. I felt guilty leaving Sonia alone, even if I hated mom right now.


    When I was back on Ashphodea, I parked the airship just in the edge of the city. I pushed the button that made the ship invisible. When I turned around, Nikolai stood way too close to me, looking something with weird looking glasses.


    "What are you doing here?" Nikolai tapped the sides of his head and the glasses around his face disappeared.


    "Your dad forced me. I''m forced to be your guide."


    "Guide to where?" Nikolai laughed.


    "Firstly, to get dressed. You still have your last nights outfit." I looked down. He was right. I was wearing the outfit I was wearing from the anniversary party. I felt dirty just looking at myself.


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Then what?"


    "Do you want to meet the gods?" I stopped in my tracks. The gods? The literal gods. I wanted to scream but I wanted to look cool in front of Nikolai.


    "Why do they want to meet me?"


    Nikolai laughed. Nikolai started walked away and I started walking along him.


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 Chapter 21 - Andy

    As I walked outside the hospital, I saw the ship I was on just an hour before fly away from Sonia, who was just staring at the ship. After you couldn''t see the ship, Sonia started to walk forward towards a playground on the opposite of the hospital. She sat on the edge of a sandbox and looked at the ground. I felt stuck. I couldn''t reach her. We had a wall between us that we couldn''t cross.


    I sat down next to her. I wanted to talk to her. I really wanted to talk to her. When Sonia looked at me, i smiled a little. "Do you believe he''s coming back?"


    Sonia laughed. She raised her hands to say something but realized she couldn''t say anything to me. She shrugged her shoulders and started to draw shapes in the sand. That gave me an idea.


    ¡°Can you teach me a few words of¡­your language?¡± Sonia was startled by my suggestion. However, she nodded at me after thinking for a moment. She turned to me so that our faces were facing each other. Just so that I could see Sonia''s every move.


    First she put her hand in front of me, bottom side up. She then slapped her other hand on top of that hand sideways, thumb up. His hands formed a cross. I copied her movements exactly. I had to redo it a couple of times because I accidentally did it a couple of times quite carelessly. Finally, when I got it done well, Sonia pointed to the sand below us. She slowly wrote the word stop. It will surely be useful. We can move now without Sonia or someone else frantically waving her arms.


    Next, she stayed on the same path. She gave me a thumbs up with both hands. Before I could embarrassingly do it back to her, she put both thumbs together, and twirled her hands around in that position a couple of times. I was really confused about the whole thing, but I mimicked the same move back to her. Sonia wrote the word continue in the sand below us. Another useful word for us.


    Next she put her hand into some kind of fist. However, her fingers were not on top of each other, but his thumb was more next to the other fingers. When I got the hand position right, Sonia pointed at me. Before I started to accuse her of anything, she put that weird fist in front of his head with the thumb facing the head, and then he put his hand who was in a wrist  in a little arc towards the pointing hand. After practicing for a while, she wrote Edan''s name in the sand. I smiled a little.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    "You can''t copy Anna because- Because I will never be afraid of you." I looked at Sonia. She looked like she wasn''t breathing.


    "I don''t have to. I know all of your worst memories. I am Anna''s old memories. Like this version here is the one you spent years with playing cops and robbers, until you started to get bored of not having any power so you... Well, yo udrugged me a brought me here, where you can be a big boss." Anna grabbed Tomas''s face. She was smiling. Tomas walked away from the woman. At the same moment, two other figure appeared around Tomas.


    "You were violent! We had a little girl! You were danger to your self. You made our daughter deaf."


    "Don''t lie! Those medications turned me into your slave. I was never a psychopath you diagnosed me with. I just hated you."


    "I was just a girl when I met you. I needed someone to help me." One of the other figures was a small girl, probably same age as me. She was wearing a white dress. "You never helped me. You just saw me as a monster you could control. I never had sociopathy, but because of you think of it as a disease of the monsters, you labeled me as such."


    "You was the one that made me a monster!" Tomas touched the surgeries on his face. At the same time, the third figure came closer to Tomas.

 Chapter 22 - Andy

    We really should shut the computers down upstairs. I don''t know how they weren''t shut down already. It was getting more broken each minute. We shouldn''t use the machine at all. You could probably tell, we didn''t do that.


    Sonia tapped the screen in her hand. I felt weird that I was going to see the real life Bonnie and Clyde. I was also feeling weird about the fact that I had seen Clyde in my own eyes. He didn''t match my idea of a romantic lead I had for Clyde in my head. Aging does that to you I guess.


    Sonia pressed some sort of button and the room started changing. We were soon in a grand looking house. We were in a living room, where a small child was in the floor, looking at a mad looking man in front of them. "What did you do?" The man screamed. Every time man walked angrily towards the kid, kid crawled backwards.


    The child was holding their hands in front of them, shielding themselves from the man. "I''m sorry dad! I''m sorry! I just... I saw the competision and I just though we could get inside the walls if I won. And I would have if you-"


    "We are not going to inside the walls! I have said it to you thousands of times!" Man was about to kick the kid before the kid dodged. "You are so selfish. You have put us all in danger just because you wanted to play an engineer. God, I should have never even let you out of the house you-"


    While the man was yelling, they hadn''t noticed the One wall of the house had a blinking re3d light. Slowly the whole room turned red but the man didn''t notice due to being focused on the kid. Man only noticed when a bullet from a rifle had hit the man''s neck.


    On a doorway next to the man and the boy stood woman in a dress in a black and white stripes and a turtleneck, holding an old timely rifle in her almost delicate looking hands. Her blonde hair was tied to a tight bun with a red bow. Anna.


    Anna walked closer to the man she had just shot. She kicked the man down and put her high heel on his throat and the barrel of her gun between his eyes. Woman''s eyes were looked empty, even when looking at the terrified eyes of the man he shot. Man wanted to scream but Anna didn''t let him.


    Woman smiled. "I wanted to see the life leaving your eyes myself. I have hunted you for five years. Now I can finally say goodbye to you, father."


    One clean shot was fired. Man went limp. Anna stood up and cleaned herself up. Splatters of blood stained her white dress. When she stood up, she finally saw the kid in the corner of a room, scared out of their mind. She tapped a button on her ear.


    "There is a kid. How there could be a kid? You said the house was empty What does it matter that he remarried-" Anna went silent. It was the first time the woman showed emotion in her face. A wave of sadness went over her. She raised her hand towards the kid, trying her best to smile.


    "I''m sorry for killing your... our dad."


    "Who the hell are you?" The kid screamed. I finally realized that the kid was Milo. Anna looked at place where Man''s body was. Suprisingly, there wasn''t anything there for me and Sonia to look at.


    "What did you father said was the reason you were running away?" Milo kept looking at the body, shunned.


    "He never said anything. I just assumed it was due to work. He works with the black market outside the walls."


    "True, she was also escaping daughter who killed his ex-wife and who has become her direct competitor." Anna grabbed Milo''s hand and pushed him up. "Anna Henriksson. What should I call you?"


    "Why do you need that?"


    "Depends on why that douche yelled at you."


    Milo looked around. He looked at the place the body was. "I... There was this competision for young inventors."


    "Can you do weapons?" Milo looked shocked. "It''s your choice. You can ran away now, or you can be my weapons maker. Your choice. If your with me, I will promise no-one will hurt you. Working for me is the safest job outside the walls."


    "How do you know I''m not terrible?"


    "He wouldn''t have yelled at you if you were. No mediocre person is ever been noticed." The energy between the siblings were something I have never witnessed. I felt like I was seeing the world shift, like something in the world changed when Milo grabbed Anna''s hand and they walked outside.


    Place changed. We were now outside, following Milo and Anna towards a group of people, Tomas right in front of everyone. He looked at Milo and Anna. He wanted to say something, but cowered when he met Anna''s gaze. "I thought we were going to kill everyone inside. We were destroying Eklund bloodline."


    Anna rolled her eyes. "Plans change. We now have a weapon''s maker."


    Tomas looked Anna stunned. "We already have weapon''s maker."


    Anna looked around and shot her gun towards the crowd. Me and Sonia jumped when a man fell to the ground, gunshot right in his head. "Not anymore." Anna smiled sarcastically. "Tell the kid where he should go. I''m going to go being Bonnie Darling."


    Anna walked away towards camera''s behind the big group. When people gave space to Anna, I could see two masked figures holding up gasoline, ready to give it someone. That someone was probably Anna. Tomas stared at young Milo. He looked like he wanted to kill him. Just plain and simple.


    Before Tomas or Milo could say anything, scene changed. We were in front of a entrance that was decorated with flowers. Osiria Rose stood opposite of the door, surrounded by hundreds of other people in an arch surrounding Milo, now few years older. Camera''s floated around them.


    "Milo Henriksson, the trespasser. You are not authorized member of the Tartaros family." As Osiria spoke, I noticed fidgeting Anna next to Osiria. She looked like she wanted to run to Milo but Tomas had a tight grip on her hand. "Audience has liked your personality but due to fairness of our situation, you are to be banished from Tartaros."


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    "No he isn''t", a voice I knew well screamed among the crowd. Evalyn run from the crowd, Serena right behind her. I saw dad and mom that tried to hold her to stop but couldn''t. Evalyn ran between Milo and Osiria. Her eyes were glued into the host.


    "You are going to get banished. Please, don''t do this." Milo''s voice was weak. Serena grabbed Milo''s hand.


    "We are not letting you die dude." Evalyn laughed.


    "No one is going to die. Milo will be escorted back to outside the walls." Osiria said smiling widely.


    "With all due respect Osiria Rose, you can stop bullshitting. We are here to be used and then killed. That dome in the middle of the city? They are trying to clone us to sell our copies as best friends to idiots inside the walls, but they are so idiotic they can''t create how we react to things so they are making us do things so they have our brain waves." I could here mumbling all around me. Every person who looked like they were a citizen and not some sort of guard looked uncertain about Evalyn''s words.I was... stunned, but when I thought about it, why did these thing before me existed. It was a possible reason that they were trying to sell people''s brain waves to the highest bidder.


    "It''s insulting that you make us some sort of villain because you do not agree me." Osiria looked at the camera''s all around her floating around. She leaned in to talk to a man next to him who was holding a old looking gun.


    "I''m not insulting you. If I was, I''d say your makeup looks like my niece made it." Audience laughed. Serena hit Evalyn on the shoulder but her smile was proud. Everyone around Osiria Rose laughed except dad, who looked at his sister worrying, shaking his head lightly. My suprisingly laughed, but quickly hid her smile.


    "Even if you don''t agree with us, you must agree that this whole place, we are actively working towards acception from people who will not ever give us that. We can not accept that. We have to fight", Serena said. Milo nodded with her every word. The mumbling started getting louder. Dozens of people nodded their heads, agreeing with the trio.


    "Get them! They are actively trying to start a riot." Osiria ordered the men around her.


    "So many of you were clients or worked for me and my sister. Will you believe goverment bastards or loyal friends", Milo screamed while the guards started to get closer to them.


    "Okay friends, I guess we are going to fight. Don''t die." Evalyn hit the guard closest to her in the chest and grabbed gun in his hand. She shot three more guards in the chest. That made everything go into chaos. Half of the audience started attacking the guards and other half tried to make other people stop. There was blood everywhere when the guards started the gunfire and everyone who wasn''t stopping the guards, were dying from their shots.


    Only ones that weren''t moving were Osiria, Tomas and Anna. When the chaos started to get really bloody, Anna started to laugh. "Was this the Utopia you wanted? You could have gotten this if we had stayed criminal bosses."


    "Stop laughing", Tomas said between his teeth.


    "What are you going to do? Tartaros is dead."


    Osiria didn''t like that. She marched forward, ordering camera''s to follow her every move. She dodged every other citizen of Tartaros and went to Evalyn. Evalyn didn''t notice the camera''s but just looked at Osiria.


    "Stop this right now", Osiria said in a kind voice but she hid a tiny pistol from the camera''s, "You started this madness so you can stop this, if you want your family to survive."


    Evalyn smiled and pointed the gun in her hand towards Osiria. "Leave this town, then we talk."


    "Fine, I will. Just no more bloodshed." Osiria sounded pleading, but she pointed her hidden gun towards Milo and was ready to shoot. Without hesitation, Evalyn shot five bullets into Osiria''s torso and neck. Osiria fell to the ground. Her scream of pain made everyone else stop the fighting.


    "Run", Evalyn said in a demanding voice. Every single guard or person who looked like they worked in Tartaros ran towards the giant entrance and left.


    "You really deserve to be named after a monster, Medusa." Osiria said before passing out from the blood loss. I looked at Sonia. She looked like she was going to throw up.


    Scene started to change again. Gorgos, my parents and Anna''s parents were around a table. I could hear a sound of fighting outside the small room they were in. Mom looked more stressed I have ever seen her. She looked at a giant sycthe in front of her. Gorgos looked sad. Evalyn was holding her swords, Serena anxiously touched her rings.


    "Why do you have something like that anyways?" Evalyn looked at Anna, who was staring at Milo with a stern gaze.


    "After I killed my father, I wanted to make sure my family had a way out, that made sure we were going to take as many people on the way too." Anna took out a small tube. "Bomb that can destroy so much and can be only accessed by my family, is amazing tool when in a corner, like this situation."


    Milo looked at Anna and Tomas. "So you are blowing each other up together."


    Before Tomas could answer Anna grabbed his hand. "We are dying for love. What is better than that?" Anna looked at Tomas tightened her grip. Tomas looked terrified.


    "What about Sonia?" Milo said.


    Anna looked at her brother and smiled. For the first time she looked genuine. "I''m sorry I have to make this sacrifice. I hope she will understand me when she''s older. " I looked at Sonia. She looked her mother''s mouth tightly.


    Anna stood up, Tomas following her steps. Anna walked closer to Evalyn. "You don''t have to do this. I will figure out something."


    Anna smiled and kissed the girl''s forehead. "Take care of my brother, dear. You will make a great leader."


    The scene changed again. Anna and Tomas were in the top of the wall of Tartaros. Anna was putting a rope tight around the edge so they could go to the other side where an giant hoard of soldiers were flooding in Tartaros. Suprisingly, when Tomas tried to grab into the rope, Anna grabbed Tomas''s hand. Small ring appeared around Tomas''s hand.


    "What are you doing?" Tomas''s hand was like glued to the wall''s railing.


    "You were always so against Milo but he was the best inventor I have ever met. He even made metal handcuffs." Anna spoke so nonchalantly while Tomas was in a panic. "I was thinking about it and you were right. You don''t have to do this. You don''t deserve heros death."


    "What are you ever saying?"


    "If this wasn''t clear already, I calculated a place where if I explode myself and you are here, you will most likely stay alive, but live with the most excruciating pain." Anna smiled happily. Sonia fell back in shock. Thankfully I catched her.


    "Why? I don''t understand..."


    Anna raised Tomas''s chin with her finger. "Maybe you were just right. Maybe I am a monster."


    At that moment Anna glitched. She was a young girl for a second. Her hair was as wild as Sonia''s and she looked weak and timid. "Please stop, I am not a monster. Please. Please!"


    Girl''s scream was so loud I had to cover my ears. When I looked back at Anna, she was an adult again. She put the rope around her and was ready to jump. Tomas tried to gtrab her. "Please, Anna. Anna I love you. We can be a family. I do whatever you want."


    Anna laughed loudly. "I feel sorry for the person who has to take care of you for the rest of your life." Then, she jumped.


    Me and Sonia ran to the edge of the wall. Anna looked like she was floating down to the ground. When she had ground beneath her feet. She ran to a proper spot and bowed. All the soldier around her looked confused.


    "My dear soldiers. My name is Anna Henriksson, you might know me as Bonnie Darling, the most dangerous woman outside the walls. While there isn''t camera''s around me, I want to say I''m glad you are witnessing something never seen before in a history of my gruesome life." Anna raised her hands, the tube in one of her hands. She looked liked she was watching at us, even tough she probably looked at Tomas. "Bonnie Darling is making her own legacy."


    She pushed the button. And then...


    She was gone.

 chapter 23 - Edan

    I didn''t know why all the clothes in this dammed city were so... itchy. Well, at least it was something other than hospital gowns. I shouldn''t complain all the time. They looked nice at least. The suits light blue coloring looked nice while the sun went down on the horizon. It''s simplicity was beautiful in a way. I just didn''t know why everything beautiful needs to be annoying too.


    Nikolai arrived next to me smiling widely. He was dressed in the same suit as me, just the color was dark red instead of blue. It annoyed me that my first thought I saw it was my mom and her beautiful curly hair that I hadn''t never seen in its natural color, just in this dark red, that one had one side braided neatly.


    "Looking better than I could have imagined. You ready?" I nodded, even tough he walked past me before getting the reaction he asked for. I quickly walked behind him from the giant golden doors.


    We were soon in a living room that had a grand view to the city, that gave the otherwise colorless room a pop of color. My eyes spotted a man looking outside the window, his hair as grey as the suit he was wearing. There was two women in the almost grey looking sofa. I recognized them immediately. Neela was dressed in a strapless dress which shined brighter than the sun itself. She and the graying man were in a midst of a conversation. The other woman, who I think was Andi''s mother, had her eyes glued to the floor. She was wearing a boring grey jacket and her hair was in a loose bun. I may not be a genius, but she looked like she was in her personal hell.


    "There you are. I was wondering, if you weren''t even coming." Dad came from outside of my field of vision. Before I could say anything else, he tapped me on the shoulder and started dragging me towards people without giving me anything to warn me what was going to happen or what I can''t say. He was just throwing me towards the lions. I tried to stop him, but before I knew it, I was in front of the graying man.


    "Ah, Pegasos is finally here in flesh and blood." When I saw the man''s face more close, I felt weirdly starstruck. Poseidon, the one of the creators of all of this all around me, was right in front of my eyes. I was so stunned I couldn''t even ask about why he called me Pegasos. I wasn''t ever given a code name.


    "Poseidon, I''m glad you didn''t fall dead yesterday." Dad and Poseidon shook their hands, me still in front of my dad. "Everything is fine in the dining room by the way." Right next to the living room was a huge dining room where couple of more people. I had seen all of them at the party but all of their names escaped my mind.


    "Oh, I couldn''t have left this earth without talking to your son in more detail." Poseidon''s laugh was the weirdest I have ever heard. It almost sounded hollow, even tough his face looked genuine.


    Poseidon reached his hand towards me. After dad tapped me on the shoulder, I shook his hand, bowing a little. I felt too awkward, but Poseidon looked he was impressed by me. "It''s great to finally talk to you, Poseidon."


    "Manners, who would have thought?" Poseidon smirked at dad. I didn''t know if I should take his words as compliments or insults. Poseidon had a aura around him that every word that came out of his mouth was meant to be a leash around you. He, thankfully, was too busy to notice while being focused to the older boy behind me. "Aeneid! You need to come in these things more often. I don''t see you anymore these days, and now your parents are saying you want me to come work under me."


    Nikolai bowed politely. The change in him was quick. He was soon the most polite man you can ever meet, full opposite of the cocky kid I have talked this whole time. "I didn''t think of anything better to honor my dear grandmother than to work with her old partner."


    Poseidon smiled solemnly. "There isn''t and never will be a greater woman." I would have had few points to argue that opinion, but the people started to walk towards the dining room so I was just forced to go with the flow. As everyone was walking, my gaze spotted Andi''s mom. I wanted to make a joke about them being the underdog with me, but she looked like she never wants to hear a joke.


    The dining room was giant and tacky space, that only had a huge dining table that was colored in gold and silver. Every person my eyes spotted had been in the party, or at least looked as rich that they were there. I tried to hold myself not to grow a fear inside me that this night was the same as the last one.


    Every fear I had disappeared when dad waved at me to come sit next to me. Neela on the other side of him wasn''t that happy. Her hand was wrapped his arm. She whispered something in his ear. As i sat down, I could feel Neela trying to stab me with her stare.


    Nikolai sat down right opposite of me, next to two people who looked weirdly like a clone of Nikolai, so the best guess from me was that those were Nikolai''s parents. I remembered them at the party. They both had that over confident feel Nikolai had. Nikolai''s dad had the same nose bridge and icy look as Neela, and the mother looked almost identical to her son. They both were as light as snow.


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    Poseidon sat at the end of the table. When he sat down, i noticed the giant pictures in both sides of the chair. The side of Nikolai''s parents was a picture of an older woman who looked like Neela as an older woman. The other picture was... odd. I could clearly tell that there was a picture in it, but I couldn''t figure anything about him. Both of them had a name plaque under them. The woman had "Hades" under her potrait. The weird person was Zeus.


    "Is there a reason why no one is using their real names?" I tried to be as quiet as could when I whispered to dad, but of course Neela heard it too. She rolled her eyes like a teenager, her head leaning on my dad''s shoulder.


    "This is an official dinner with the highest members of the government. We don''t call each other our real names in the events like this. You either call me father or Perseus, and you call this beauty Atalanta-" She kissed her fiancee to the cheek. Neela smiled widely. "Your new friend is Aeneid."


    When I looked around, I realized that there were only three or more families from the last nights party. They were quiet and proper, but they looked like even one toe was richer than me. I didn''t know if I liked the feeling that pulsed around me.


    Thankfully only thing I soon thought was utter terror. The painting that looked almost inhumane, turned fully black. Poseidon stood up. From the darkness, a shadowy figure moved in the darkness. It was like the monster from the deepest nightmares, or the figure you would see while having a sleep paralysis. I involuntarily gasped. Poseidon laughed.


    "Zeus and me wanted to say we are happy that you all joined to our monthly meetings. Enjoy the food, and the company." Poseidon looked at the shadow smiling.


    "Let''s remember too all of the people we lost in the brutal attack 15 years ago. We lost many good people." Voice that came out of Zeus was almost robotic. it didn''t sound human. Everyone looked like it was perfectly normal, even tough a monster stared right at me.


    I could feel some of the people''s stares on me. I didn''t want to think about it, I couldn''t. Dad probably saw me being uncomfortable because he tapped me on the shoulder. I tried to remember that they lost people too even tough I couldn''t care about their own misery.


    After that small moment, the night went suprisingly okay. No-one asked about me about mom, not even anything about Gorgos and Tartaros. I had fun, which was very odd thing to say. I talked almost all night with Nikolai. I got to chat with his parents too who were suprisingly fun. All of them were powerful people with interesting lifes across Asphodea.


    Neela became funnier when she had drunk few glasses. She started telling me about her life as a young kid in Asphodea after Nikolai gave her a glass or two. Her family has always been crazy rich. She had been crushing on my dad since she was a young kid. She also told me that she had made the first move. In exchange, I told her about the time mom almost broke two buildings accidently.


    The whole mood of the party changed when Neela got a glass that was one too much. As people were talking, Neela wobbled to the middle of the living room, where people came after the dinner. Me and Nikolai laughed about her mumbling. My smile vanished when Neela tapped me on the shoulder and smiled. "Pegasos, I was so wrong about you honestly. I thought your bitch of a mother sent you as a spy but you are a smart kid. I have to admit."


    Everyone around me froze. People looked at each other and I felt like the smallest person in the room. My eyes were glued to dad. He tried his best to take the focus off his fiancee. He grabbed her by the hand and started dragging her away. "I''m gonna take Neela home. I''m going to come back later to get the kids."


    Dad nodded to Poseidon as a goodbye and him and Neela disappeared. After Neela was gone, everyone was focused entirely on me. I could sense the questions every single one of them had. I just needed to give them something. That was the only way to make them accept me and not look at me like they did right now.


    "Okay, three questions. I''ll answer three questions. Nothing more, and nothing less." I tried my best to be as charismatic as mom or dad. I just felt... weird in the moment. Everyone started whispering to the person next to them, maybe figuring out what they were going to ask, or just laugh at the boy who got left alone.


    "Well, can you give a proof that you aren''t just Medusa''s spy?" Nikolai broke the silence. Maybe the hours spent with him made it easier for him to talk. He smiled at me with his normal smirk, which made me relax.


    "I don''t know how but I promise to make sure to get that trust from you. I want to proof be my desperation to get to know my real father and the fact that I don''t want the people closest to him to not trust me." Couple of people around me relaxed. Poseidon nodded smiling. "Two questions left."


    Nikolai''s mom, whose code name at least was Megara, stepped forward. "Pegasos, I want a concrete evidence that you are on our side now. Give us a secret Medusa is hiding."


    "What do you mean?" I fucked up. I was stunned and my head was shaking. I couldn''t just... My head kept replaying that phrase Cassandra said. "I don''t know any war plans or stradegies. I''m 14 years old."


    "What''s the biggest secret of Tartaros itself" My heart jumped when I heard Poseidon speak. He smiled gently at me. There was a certain answer to this and it might make some people''s life at risk. Still, I couldn''t leave this scenario if I didn''t answer.


    "I... The size I think.