Chapter 17
My vision was dark the entire time we shot through the underworld, until we dropped lower. Gone was the pretty waterfall I’d met Selene at. Now everything was deathly cold, though I never felt like I was going to freeze. Thanatos’ borrowed power kept me warm.
When we finally landed, it was to a jarring slam. We were plunged into utter darkness, the land beneath my feet barely visible. The brief glimpses I got were of barren and compact dirt.
“We’re on the edge of five and six,” Hyperion said softly. “It’s the night cycle.”
I had no idea what that meant, but I knew he’d been in the underworld for a long time. “Have you been here before? Specifically this spot in the realms?”
“Yes,” he said softly. “I’ve walked every realm. One has to do so when one is dead for a thousand years. It gets boring and lonely.”
A thought hit me. “Weren’t you with Theia down here?”
He shifted closer to me and I paused, trying to hear a threat around us. Cronus always moved closer like that when he was trying to protect me.
My heart screamed at the memory and I sucked down my hysteria. It was okay; we were here, moving forward to save him.
“She was mad at me for a long time,” Hyperion said, helping to distract me. “Something happened that tore us apart, but eventually we found our way back to each other. I had a lot of time to myself before that.”
Slivers of a sad and lonely Titan bled into that confession and my heart ached for him. I wondered if this had anything to do with the whole “Zeus is my bastard son” situation. No way was I asking though. Now was not the time or place for that conversation.
“We need to make camp until the light returns,” he told me. “Too many dangers here in the dark. I think I know the perfect place.”
His hold on my hand was firm, and he never stumbled even though we were basically walking through complete and total darkness.
In a few minutes, the ground started to elevate, and then the icy breezes were cut off.
“I’ve used this cave before,” he told me. “We should be safe here. Providing the Ery hasn’t shifted the balance.”
I nodded, not sure if he could see me, too exhausted to say anything. A few hours rest before we started off toward Cronus wasn’t a bad idea.
Hyperion settled against a wall and I did the same. It felt rough and rocky, but I didn’t care. Sliding down beside him, I hugged my arms around my legs.
We were quiet for many moments and I felt my eyelids grow heavier. There was something on my mind though, that I wanted to ask before I slept.
“How did he even die?”
I’d kept my voice low, but somehow that one question lingered in the air, heavy and burning.
“I thought Hepatitis’ box was supposed to take that option away. To make sure Cronus didn’t need to be the box to house the sins. Death was just supposed to pass through him.”
Hyperion chuckled. “Hepatitis. I’m really hoping that catches on. That bastard deserves to be named after an infectious disease.”
A part of me felt like he was avoiding answering my question, but I was really too tired to push. Thankfully, I didn’t have to.
“I’m not totally sure why it went wrong—it happened so quickly—but my hunch is Zeus and Hephaestus might have sabotaged the box so that Cronus would have to sacrifice himself for the sins to be trapped. It looked like he was trying to siphon them off but there was something stopping him.”
Sleep was long forgotten as pure rage coursed through me. “Are you fucking serious? You think they sabotaged the box on purpose?”
I felt him nod beside me. “They will pay for this,” he promised. “I was already making plans on how to take them down. But first we will find Cronus. Then revenge can be his dish to serve.”
Motherfuckers! Fucking, fucking, fuck.
Thanatos’ borrowed power surged inside of me and I made a concerted effort to tone my emotions down. I wouldn't waste any of this power. I would save it for when we needed it most, trusting in Hyperion when he said those fucking gods would pay.
Dibs on making the first cut.
“I thought it might have been my fault,” I said into the darkness. It had been truth, simmering deep in my pain and grief. If Cronus hadn’t tossed me into Hyperion’s arms, I could have funneled death. Maybe that would have made a difference. I still wasn’t even sure how he’d gotten those last sins in without me.
“Oh, Maisey, no,” Hyperion murmured, his hand reaching out to squeeze mine in the darkness. “You would have died if Death funneled through you. Cronus and I had always planned to keep that from you.”
Tears pricked my eyes as I replayed Cronus sacrificing himself for me. The ultimate act of love.
“So Zeus stole the box,” I breathed, my head dropping onto his hard shoulder. “What does he plan on doing with it?”
Another long pause. “I’m not sure, but I will find out.”
That rage welled up inside of me again, so hot that I had to take two deep breaths to push it back down.
“Don’t worry too much,” Hyperion said. “He can’t do anything at this time. Only you can open the box again, Maisey. So there’s nothing to worry about at the moment.”
Great. Being the one person who could open the box wouldn’t have Zeus gunning for me or anything…
Still, a part of me wanted him to find me. I had some powers now. They felt pretty strong. Maybe I could hurt that bastard.
“Whatever you’re thinking, forget it,” Hyperion told me. “Let’s focus on Cronus. Then he can kill that pain-in-the-ass god.” For the first time he sounded like he wouldn’t
