It took me a moment to realise the marks on Tisiphone's face were tears. Faint, silvered lines that glistened across red cheeks. Her lips were tinted black, looking more bruised than the scars from being frostbitten, and the look in her eye was pure desperation. I wondered if she saw that in mine too.

I felt desperate. Determined. Terrified of what this now meant for all of us. Before I could get lost in my fear, the presence of Uranus seemed to taint the air around us, a heaviness weighing on my shoulders that disappeared as quickly as it had come. Cain didn't hesitate like I did, he wasn't distracted and as we all got the subtle earthy tug of Gaia beneath us that seemed to fade into nothingness as Uranus had, Cain hadn't stopped fighting either.

Tisiphone shuddered; she barely managed to brace herself against his silent attack. Reaching out, his power was a flurry of chaos around her shield, and as I also sought weakness in her defence, something became very clear. We didn't get ridiculously lucky by taking down two of the three so quickly, but I knew she'd planned it that way. It was as if I could see her thoughts as if they were my own. I had wondered how Megaera got free, her stumbling towards me a badly planned attack that hadn't fitted their style at all.

In the blink of an eye, I saw Tisiphone push her.

What power and protection Uranus had provided was only hers and the price she paid for it was their sacrifice. Nieve hoarded the powers of the Fates, and now whatever had been theirs was Tisiphones. Had that been her plan with Nieve as well, why didn't they want her dead or at least not until they could be the ones to claim what she possessed.

They or just her?

Hecate's reference to burning as one was starting to make more sense in a different way. Unite what had been divided - it was a twin flame theory all over again yet that was in balance. To be one of three or to contain it all, was not. It's why there had been a fourth. Why Zane had been chosen by Themis beyond his gifting of powers - to create balance.

Zane.

I was not the Empress and I needed to be, Cain needed me to be - everyone outside this room was counting on me right now. This wasn't facing Nieve. This was wandering in the snow, unable to admit my friend, my brother, that infuriating Slayer that first kidnapped me a million years ago and made himself one of the most important people in my life, was dead. I held my stomach, feeling the baby within and the promise of a future I would defend until my last breath. I saw Cain next; my other half. Words I had wanted to scream at Gaia about the unfairness of it all, of the demands placed on my head that no matter what truces I made, the power I gained, allies I created, would never be enough, rise again.

I looked over to where Zane was waiting for his moment.

"No." I shook my head.

"No." It's louder this time; I catch Cain glancing my way.

"No!" I scream it now, and even Tisiphone turns her focus towards me as I go closer.

Cain's attempt to stop me is like a subtle breeze on a hot afternoon. A whisper of relief that doesn't last as each step has the ground trembling and with every attack, I feel my power rise; my black-mouthed silver friend appearing like a ghost as he strikes and hisses at each attempt Tisiphone dare makes on my life. It's suddenly Alfie in full battle mode; spikes on his tail and eyes glowing red as we lose ourselves to everything we know we can't turn away from once we open that door.

There's Annipe, her stripes darker and less vibrant than when she is at home, happily soaking in the river at the back of the Academy. Her spikes pound into the dirt, the enemies invisible as she stops them before they can even rise. How they are there, I don't know but their presence empowers me further.

I feel the dangerous energy that surrounds Tisiphone flare in response to my nearness. I hear my name, muffled by the roar in my ears as I put my hand up and feel into her power. The pins and needles of energy tickle my palm, burning as it races up my arm, infected by Tisiphone's magic. By holding me back, she's given me something to latch onto and it takes a second for me to realise the scream I can hear is my own.

Our eyes meet.

There's a fear in her eyes now, and I know she won't find it in mine.

Thread by thread I cut away at what protects her. Cain is with me as he always is and her shield falters. We invade her space, and she's gone. Of course, she'd flee, but Cain's ward manages to keep her here. Her scream of frustration matched the one I had just made, and this time I had my sword out as she came our way.

"Never imagined you as one to run away, but that's all you've ever done. Who is going to carry you away to safety now your sisters are gone, Tisiphone?" I cluck my tongue, earning a look of pure loathing to be sent my way.

"What did you do?" She snaps instead.

"You're going to need to be a little more specific."

"We had a plan."

"It sucked, like, I've been through worse. It wasn't like you were even trying." Her cheeks burn a darker red. "Oh, you were? I almost feel bad for her."

Cain barely responds a grunt-like sound all I get. Daring to turn his way, my heart skips a beat at seeing him in what could only be described as ultimate Dark King mode. No, Emperor mode.

Mine.

Each movement he makes radiates an effortless power that he's always possessed. I look at him now in want and awe, jealous at how he always appears as if he could command the very essence of existence and only just be warming up. Cain doesn't just look good; he manages to leave no doubt in anyone's mind that he is a force to be reckoned with. There's the most subtle hint of a smirk playing at the corner of his lips that draws me closer to him now. It's that presence that had comforted me when he was Darius, one familiar thing in a world that was insane and now, he was my world.

And now I'm the one insane.

I had to be, as turning into him I needed to touch him, feel him, kiss him. I reach up to caress his cheek, feeling the roughness from the shadow of stubble on his skin as his eyes meet mine full of amusement and a love that makes me feel complete.

"Elle, what are you doing?" It's barely a whisper, words only for me.

"Whatever I want." I feel high, drunk and completely lost in whatever this moment was.

Goodbye.

There is only Cain. Us. We're bound together beyond the very essence of life and creation, and the universe. If we are all made of stars, Cain and I are the darkness they sit upon and as our kiss deepens, I know with absolute certainty that we'd still find our way back to each other, not in this life, but the next and beyond.

There would be no, forever goodbye, for us.

It had been only seconds, yet it felt like the eternity I had just seen as we were pulled from whatever secrets of the aether we'd glimpsed by Alfie's hiss and Tisiphones blasting of pure heat. We didn't need to see to defend, and as I sucked in a breath of fresh air, parting from my love, I turned to face Tisiphone with new determination.

"We were having a moment. Rude." I huffed, instantly latching onto her legs as Gaia seemed to abandon the earth wherever my power touched.

We were on our own now.

"He will die knowing there was nothing he could do to save you." She promised.

"Keep telling yourself that. I feel like you missed the message I gave you the last two times. That isn't going to happen."

Liar.

Tisiphone seemed to realise just how much power she held now, barely flinching as she attacked us separately. I used Alfie and Annipe as best I could. My movements weren't as agile as I'd like, my body begging me to slow down as I felt the weight of my stomach tugging my skin to its limit. My hip joints screamed, the belly band barely holding on as the promises of support and comfort during third-trimester exercise seemed like a badly advertised marketing campaign. Alfie defended Annipe right with him  as she spat venom that sizzled like acid wherever it landed. Sweat ran down my back, my hair clumping on my forehead as I focused more on my next steps and next move than my appearance.

Fuck you, Cain.

Glancing his way, he barely had broken a sweat and my curses intensified as power against power seemed pointless and the ache in my shoulders as instead I swung my sword and threw fists, was worth it to get results. It was a risk I was willing to take, just like when facing Nieve and Uranus. Why risk damaging your body when you have the power to do the hardest work for you?

Because no one ever saw that coming.

My fist connected with her chin which created a crack and a pain that made me wonder if it had been my knuckles breaking or her jaw. I moved in sync with her attack, not pausing as something managed to send Cain flying across the field. My body seemed to anticipate each move that was coming as if we'd been rehearsing for this moment for months. I saw her use her fists and managed to duck and lean back so she'd never make contact. I could see her hesitate, a second of distraction as Cain returned and his invisible force threatened to break her, the perfect time for my sword to swing.

This time, the sight of blood made me hungry for more. My sword wanted more.

Annipe vanished first, her disappearance so sudden it didn't even register until something flashed in my mind and I was now seeing her with Apollo. It made me pause, blocking the flow of movement I'd built up so my feet stumbled and Alfie was the one who kept me standing upright. His scales were slick and wet in patches, but he was stronger than ever.

My warrior.

He'd been with me since the beginning. The relief I'd felt as he saved Jordan on the altar, and again when we had been separated washed over me like the memories. He stuck by my side, loyally defending me and my family, where and however I've needed him to. He'd been there defeating the Lord Alpha, Dracula and the Warlocks. He'd been with me fighting Zeus and Cronus. I thought I lost him once, back when he was all I had left only he'd come stronger, older, wiser. He'd faced Berserkers and the Oni Demons. Hercules and even our friends as we'd sat on the beach and watched Odin's army come. Nights spent by the river when I left it all behind, hiding him from neighbours and Matt.

Matt's painting took over the memories.

A flashback to another time and place that may or may not even exist as who could know at this point? Closing my eyes, I am still stretched out on the ground. I see Hermes reaching for me, stepping over the limp form of Alfie curled around me. The blood that stained Kara's crown. The dirt my nose was pressing into.

"I am thankful you never did take Uranus up on his offer." Tisiphone taunted, daring to take a step in my direction.

"Me too, I'd never be able to take him seriously and I feel like that would be a requirement when being a minion to an egomaniac, trying to take over the universe."

She looked confused for a second, not that it stopped her. "Though, I'm sure he would have tired of you before you were able to prove yourself useful."

"Probably. There are only so many Your Anus jokes a girl can make, which is odd considering it's so well-rounded." I gasped, trying to appear offended. "Tough crowd. I bet he's the butt of all jokes so it's all been said once or twice before."

Still nothing.

"I'd probably laugh my ass off if he was serious about me taking your side anyway." I wait, still getting nothing. "No, I would. I mean you've betrayed, or murdered by association, your sisters. I guess being locked away in a frozen prison for what, thousands of years because Daddy didn't want to kill himself by killing what probably should have been the biggest case of up your anus and no-"

"Elle, you done?" Cain called, not sounding as amused as I would have liked.

"No, but I'll try to hold it in. Get it?" Cain pinched the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes and needed a moment. "Where  was I? Oh right, Nieve went rogue, your sisters are dead and your oh so mighty great Father of All, seems to be a little M I A, Tisiphone. Still want to judge the side I chose?"

"I'll kill you!" She suddenly screamed.

"Think of that all by yourself?" I didn't flinch and she lunged, not that it mattered as Cain was instantly there, tripping her up and slamming first his foot, then what had once been Zeus's sword into her back. Alfie moved fast, circling me as I felt the tension pour off him. "Alfie, where is Anni?"

"Gone." He growled.

"Where?" My little vision or something made my stomach queasy.

His eyes didn't leave Tisipone, and it was hard to miss the way his muscles contracted and tightened as he inched further in front of me as if he was preparing to shield me from-

The blast was sudden and from which direction or where it came was something I couldn't even try to work out. I felt the wave of power push out and back, my body moving with it as it happened so fast I didn't even register I was falling until Alfie slammed into my back, the ground following as I awkwardly rolled back and sidewards with him. I stayed there for a second, my ears ringing as I felt the dirt in my hand and the sharp, rough edges of his scales as I managed to move against him the wrong way making him shudder.

I sucked in a breath, then another and suddenly Alfie was gone. The swoosh of his tail swinging was the only sound I could take in as I looked up into the dust to see his silhouette slamming into a figure. The feminine cry of pain and surprise allowed me to swallow the panic down as Cain couldn't be felt.

Cain couldn't be felt. 

He wasn't here.

Like Annipe, he'd gone.

Fragments of the world around us seemed to tremble, the dust instantly settling as I felt my power, and desperation reach out around me. They weren't here. Zane was still, somewhere. Hidden. Safe. Alfie was all I saw as I charged forward. He ducked and weaved around the balls of what looked like fire Tisiphone threw at him, as I got closer I saw the blood running down her back and the indents from Alfie's spikes across her front. Her body was bruised, bloodied and exposed as her dress was in shreds.

All around us, I felt the walls crumbling. Fragment by fragment, the world here was ending and I wasn't sure I wanted to be in it when that happened. Each step had the ground pulsating with the promise of further destruction. Deep tremors from earthquakes preparing to rip the lands into pieces followed me and I wiped away my exhaustion and dirt with determination.

"Where are they?" I demanded.

"Gone." Tisiphone laughed, pausing for a second too long which allowed Alfie to smash into her again.

I felt her pain in my core, Alfie's wound on her stomach deepening so it looked so alike the time I had been torn open. The Warlocks' voice was a distant whisper in my ear. If I look inside you, what will I find?

"I win, little Empress. You lose." Tisiphone coughed, blood covering her chin as her hands merged with the red of her torso. She hugged herself as if that would save her. "Destroy this world and you will die with it."

"Didn't see that coming," I admit. Tisiphone laughed, her hunched posture altering as her wounds sealed. "Or that."

I moved as one with Alfie, my missing limb, another part of my essence and soul yet before he could strike, Tisiphone raised her hands and he was gone.

She dodged my blow, and the next and whatever magic now healed her, seemed to give her a new lease on life completely. Her power grew stronger, her hits harder and this time when my foot slipped, there was no one there to catch me. I kept my torso protected, the innocent one within my belly safe so my body took the brunt of the fall in the microsecond of warning I had. My head bounced, my ribs ached but I got up and kept my protection in place where I needed it the most.

I've got you Blueberry.

"It wasn't a bad plan, Empress. Either way, your friends would kill you here, or from out there." Tisiphone smirked. "You mock the Great Father, but he still protects me. His gifts outweigh yours, and that loyalty to one another you think makes you all stronger. What you think will bring you your victory is what will kill you. With you gone, we win. They can not defeat us. They can not defeat him."

A world within a world.

Hiding in plain sight.

Gone.

How did Alfie get here? I was in trouble. I needed him and he came. He always would and I knew exactly where everyone had gone. Just as I had Hermes take them all away, everyone was simply on the other side of whatever wall separated us. Now they all knew it.

Alfie.

Cain.

My loyal friends.

Cain alone would burn the world down to get to me, Alfie would help and we had gathered an army to do just that as well. I thought back to when the Furies released Uranus, the world I had destroyed and how Tartarus had felt when I dug my claws in. The ward would keep Tisiphone here, but I saw her breaking it, even now as we circled each other, we both had our internal plans forming, working away like ants as the Queens went to war.

I was not a Queen.

I focused on holding her in, while all she wanted was to get out. I sought my escape beside hers, this war was no longer physical but mental and beyond what could be seen. Our powers fought in a new way, who would be the last to go and both prepared to fall to ensure the other never would. My soldiers on the outside knew we were here now. Each blow felt on both sides as time was no one's friend.

"Silly girl. Your friends will kill you, and for all their efforts, you will still die and you will be alone. Painfully. Taking that unborn bastard into whatever abyss you are lost into." Tisiphone taunted.

"Oh not alone, you'll be with me. Hope you're ready for an eternity in that abyss together." I blew her a kiss, which made her face scrunch up in disgust.

As if. I'd rather listen to Tartarus drone on for an eternity than ever see that bitch after this. I knew how to end it, and how we were going to win but unlike facing Nieve, and seeing all the other possibilities as to how this would go, my heart refused to submit to my brain.

Could I let him die for me?

The flickers of reality and the void around it that led to the field I'd been haunted by for months blurred. Everything was becoming further and further unstable. A sound that went beyond human left me as I got the advantage over Tisiphone, ripping over the dirt and trapping her within and in seconds I was back to where Plan Never Going to Happen remained waiting for a signal I wasn't prepared to give.

Zane stood, his shield ready and sword held at this side as he looked at me for direction. He knew his role. So did I but the Empress had yet to exist here. She couldn't. Revenge was powerful. Hate could blind you. Nothing would have stopped me from destroying Nieve and while I had no issue doing the same with Tisiphone, so much more was at stake now. Like the man in front of me.

If I had to choose, him or me, I couldn't.

As if he could read my thoughts, Zane shook his head.

"No, Elise. You are stronger than this, Sunshine. Whatever you're thinking, it's not going to happen. I've had a good life, this, all of it, has been an adventure. I am here, for you. Let me go out in battle, I don't want this old man bullshit." He demanded.

"I want that. I want you old, and grey and I need you to help them, help him. I need you to make sure, Blueberry is going to be able to survive because you trained him." My voice broke; I didn't need any visions now to let me see how it would all end. "Aion will arrive any second, he is going to take you and get you out of here. The first thing you do is get Hermes. He knows as well as Aion what to do next. Be proud. I made some responsible, backup plans."

"How can I be proud? You are literally choosing the easiest way out of all of it, Elise." He huffed, absolutely furious as he threw his shield down. "How can you claim to love your son or Cain, or any of us if you just give up?"

"I'm not giving up. Tisiphone will be gone. Cain and Hades will defeat Uranus. Blueberry survives. I am only one, compared to the hundreds outside these walls. Cain needs you to help him. He needs them all. Protect them!" I scream at him.

"No. He'll need you!" Zane argues. "You still don't get it, do you? I've watched you for a long time now, and thought I saw you grow and evolve into whatever this beautifully dangerous creature is but you're not her at all. You have been faking it and that's more disappointing and dangerous than anything."

"My power doesn't change me, Zane. I've seen so many die and-"

"And that was their destiny. Reece chose."

"Now I am choosing!"

"Wrong fucking option." He's up in my space, the flicker of spit felt on my cheek as he screams back at me. "I know your pain. Nothing has been easy for you, but you've always come out on top. You're inspiring. You don't get how everyone is pulled to you by this, invisible force. Before powers. It's always been you. You are sunshine. We all want to be in your fucking glow because you make sure we're all seen. We're heard." Now Zane's voice breaks, the pressure he was putting on me easing as he slowly shifts back. "We're all remembered. This all happened to you because it always was about you. Beyond the Fates, Gaia, Cain and a stupid family curse."

I hug myself as I can't stop sobbing, refusing to look at him. "I can't lose you."

"But you can lose Cain?" He challenges.

"I won't lose him. I know we'll find each other again. I saw it." I admit.

"What?"

"I saw us together again. Not here, but another time. It's not a forever goodbye."

Zane pales slightly, before grabbing my arm. "He was right. Did you get their powers? All three?"

"I don't know. Maybe just the third? I did get a ton of Portia's memories in my dreams." I pull myself free. "It's enough to let me see how it can end, and if I'm the only casualty, so be it."

"Elise, you know how visions can change and-" His tone is softer now. "I love you, Sunshine. Let this happen, and I know you will change the outcome again."

"But it won't bring you back. The balance will be restored." Tisiphone manages to break free, and I know we're on borrowed time. "I love you, and I need you to do this for me."

"I guess Tartarus was right." I froze as Tisiphone appeared, and Zane dropped to scoop us his shield and sword.

"Oh, what do we have here?" She purred.

It was then Aion appeared, just as I knew he would. Tisiphone moved fast, her little burial acting more like a cat nap than anything else and as my shield went up, Zane moved faster.

"No!" I screamed, my throat burning as my vision instantly blurred.

Zane took the full force of her hit, and in the second it took me to wipe my eyes, I saw him fall. Instantly the glee slipped from her face as she inspected her hands. Tisiphone looked around, up at the sky for help or answers she wouldn't get as I was there.

"Enjoy, Tartarus," I promised, without thinking I tugged at the thread he'd put there and cut off the smallest part.

I yanked on her arm, hard and brutal. The sensation of her now frail body breaking apart as I did so gave me more joy than anyone should ever get. Securing the string around her wrist, I watched her face as realisation and then the mixture of fear and pain took over as my sword cut through her torso. She fell holding on my legs, mortal, powerless and withering away into golden flakes that would see her arrive in Tartarus like a gift; the golden bracelet a shackle that would curse her for an eternity.

My pain erupted like a volcano.

Every smile, curse, and infuriating habit he had ran through my head like a montage. Waiting by his hospital bed, searching in the snow, nearly dying as I struggled through a training session. The look of pride as I did something I would declare impossible. Secret smiles when he'd be forced to play referee between me and Jordan or watch reality TV. It was way he'd pull on my ponytail as I passed him and claim he was innocent. The day I told him I was six months sober, then a year and he had let me see him cry as he really was proud that I managed to go so far. The smug satisfaction of stealing the last piece of bacon my Mum had cooked super crispy at breakfast...

Mum.

I'd have to tell them. I'd have to go back home and tell them all that I couldn't do it, I couldn't save him. Was he right, could I change these visions and save myself?

"We have to get out while there is still something to get out of!" Aion ordered.

I didn't listen, sinking to my knees where Zane remained sprawled in the dirt before me. His fingers didn't react as I grabbed his hand with both of mine. There was no movement from his chest as his lungs failed to function. The heat from his body seemed to fade the longer I sat there as all around us a tornado of destruction wiped away the last stand of the Furies.

"Elise! We have to go!" Aion called, more desperate now. "I can't hold this portal open and-"

He tries to lift me, his staff almost knocking Zane's arm out of my grip but I refuse to let go. "I'm not leaving him here."

"I can't move you both like this." I can hear the panic in his voice, but it doesn't bother me.

"I'll take him. Just keep the portal open." Hermes is suddenly there, his empathy like a cloud and the sadness clear in his eyes as I look up at him. "I promise, Elise. Let me take him for you."

"I'll try, Elise, you gotta go. Now!" Aion screams. "Hold onto my staff. It's super unstable, and if you let go, I don't. Just stay with me!"

I watch as Hermes struggles with the bulk of Zane, but they vanish through the slip in time that Aion forces open for them and as I put my hand in his, I barely glimpse the word implode behind us yet the force of the explosion hurries us both through the portal.

I lose my grip on his hand.