Crius, Iapetos and Hyperion leaned down and lifted Cronus’ huge body. Seeing him like this, still covered in black veins … it tore my soul in two.
We all walked together across the beach and along the long path that led over the water to the hut, the place where I’d experienced true happiness. All of us had to get into the water to be able to reach the spot Okeanos had created, and I choked down the burning pain that was filling my chest and throat.
While his brethren gently lowered him into the hole, they wore expressions of devastation. I could barely watch as Okeanos covered him in sand and water, the lifeless figure gone from sight but never from our hearts and minds.
Hyperion wiped at his eyes, turning to me. “Mais, anything you want to say?”
I didn’t want to give a speech, I wanted to murder people and force Thanatos to release my lover, but it seemed everyone was expecting something from me. Sucking in a deep breath, I tried for simple and honest: “When I first met Cronus, I thought he was the hottest asshole I’d ever met. Grumbly fucker, he loved to order me around, and deliberately misunderstand the current world.” Another choked sob. “But the truth is, Cronus is the most unselfish being I’ve ever met. He put himself between me and danger so many times, and ultimately he gave his life so that humanity could go on.” I choked on the next words. “You’re all here because of him, and so I would ask that you use your time on this Earth to do good in his name.”
Every single Titan crossed a fist over their chest and bowed to me, causing the sobs rattling around my chest to grow louder. I couldn’t release them though. I couldn’t lose it yet.
“He was the best of us,” Hyperion said.
Iapetos nodded. “And the most stubborn.”
“With a dreadful grasp of sarcasm,” Crius added.
We all laughed genuine, if not a little bittersweet, sort of laughter.
As I wiped my eyes, I nodded to everyone, “Thank you all for your kindness. But I’m going to go bring him back now.”
No one questioned that, but they also didn’t look too confident. I had a bad feeling about what they weren’t telling me, but I also knew I’d find out soon enough from Thanatos.
“We’ll guard his remains until you return,” Okeanos said, the ocean swirling around him. “The water surrounds him, but extra protection never hurts.”
“I appreciate that,” I said, looking to Hyperion. “I’m ready.”
Swallowing roughly, he nodded, reaching forward and squeezing my hand. In seconds, we were out of the water and back in the underworld waiting room, the place just like a doctor’s office, names on the board above as everyone waited for their time to take the final journey. The first thing I did was scan the room for Cronus, my heart aching at the thought he might be one of the blank-faced individuals sitting here.
But he wasn’t. There was no sign of him, and his name was not on the board.
“Thanatos!” I shouted, not startling anyone except Hyperion.
I stared up at the screen for about thirty seconds, and was ready to march into Thanatos’ office if my name didn’t appear soon. Thankfully, it showed up a moment later, with Hyperion’s, and we both pushed our way back into his office.
Thanatos sat behind his desk, looking both pissed off … and sad. Somehow he’d perfected the art of grimacing with puppy dog eyes.
“Give me Cronus back,” I demanded as a way of greeting. “We just saved the fucking world, at great personal cost. He doesn’t deserve to be dead.”
He steepled his fingers in front of his face, sitting back as he watched me have my freak-out.
“I mean, why is he not in the waiting room. He only just died!”
I was shouting like a lunatic at this point. But whatever, I was past being fucking embarrassed or scared. My worst nightmare had already come true, and now I was living it every agonizing second. I’d just buried the love of my life under a fucking hut.
“Titans do not enter the waiting room,” Thanatos finally said, voice gravelly. “They’re too powerful to be held in stasis like that. Usually they go straight into the underworld.”
He paused, and I narrowed my eyes on him as my brow furrowed at the way he’d phrased that. “Usually…?”
He breathed deeply, and then in a rush, like he wanted to get it all out, he said: “There are seven levels to the underworld. Or realms if you’d like, and each one is further from the entrance where we are now. Cronus is currently in realm seven.”
I shook my head. “Okay … bring him to realm one and then let him fucking leave!”
Thanatos leveled a sympathetic look my way and I fought the urge to punch a god. “It doesn’t work that way, Maisey. I’m sorry. Usually he would have gone to realm one, and I can pull souls from there. But because all the Titans were released, and the darkness of the underworld surged forward, I have lost control. That’s why Cronus is in the seventh level when he should be in the first.”
“How does one escape from the seventh realm?” I asked.
He sighed. “The only way is with a token. It’s very rare, almost never given out to any soul. It’s like a free-for-all travel coin.”
In his hands, a golden coin appeared. It was about the size of his palm, detailed with engravings, and so shiny it was almost blinding. “The underworld has rules,” he continued softly. “Rules you and your Titans continued to break over and over until you released the Erynomus. The darkness. In punishment, all Titans that die will now find themselves in the seventh realm, where the Erynomus is out for blood.” He looked extra-pissed. “If the Erynomus ingests a Titan’s soul, then they cease to exist, and as a result the Ery will grow more powerful.”
Fuck me. Why was it never
