She woke with a migraine and found herself lying in her bed with the disgusting green ceiling that she stared up at for several long minutes, willing it to be any other colour, but the paint stubbornly refused. The more it refused, the angrier she grew at it.
It was several minutes before she realised that she was capable of being angry, and then she was confused, looking down at herself.
Her gem was gone, a red mark left in her skin where it had rested, and the glance down had something odd tugging at her throat. Lifting her hand, she touched a heavy band that had never been there before.
Crawling over a sleeping someone, her knee digging into their stomach to make them grunt, but they were in the way of her beeline for the mirror.
Scrambling from the bed, she stood before the mirror and found a heavy silver necklace around her throat. It fit snugly between her collarbones and was inlaid with a large blue stone that pulsed steadily.
It was a pretty necklace, flat and polished smooth, coming down to a point between her clavicles that made her throat look slender and delicate, but she didn't like the way it pulsed.
"They bound your Creator magic," a female voice said, and her eyes flicked up to the violet-haired waif of a woman that she recalled from the battlefield.
Turning slowly on her heel, she stared daggers at the woman, but the woman only grinned back. It was a grin Etani knew well.
The realisation hit her like a punch to the gut and she flew across the room into the warm arms of her twin, both tumbling to the bed and staying there, silent, and simply staring at each other.
It had been so long since she had been able to simply look at her twin, even if she no longer looked like her twin.
She had no idea how long they laid there, touching and hugging each other in silence before the door opened and someone slipped inside in an attempt to silently sneak in without disturbing what they assumed were sleeping people.
They both looked up in unison. Kai froze in place, his dark eyes wide in shock to find them both awake and watching him with the exact same doubtful, suspicious expression.
In half a breath he was on them, diving on top of Etani and hugging her with such force that her bones ground together, but she was hugging him back, confused.
"What are you doing in here?" she asked. A flash of alarm struck her as she found him to be crying silently when she pressed him back, but he could only shake his head, drinking her in.
"He's a cry baby," Letari said as she slipped from the bed, irritated that he had wedged himself between them.
He ignored her completely, and she felt a flash of amusement at the two of them. He was so poised and refined, perfect even, while she was a wild creature that was entirely untameable and feral. It was no surprise they got on each other's nerves so easily.
Silently, she used her thumb to wipe away his tears, and he smiled weakly, hugging her again. He gave a little shuddering sob that had her squeezing him, though she wasn't sure why he was upset.
The necklace had been forgotten in the moment she realised she had her twin, but it bothered her then, digging into the side of her neck to make her scowl.
Prying him off her, she pushed herself to her feet and pulled him up with her, Letari immediately moving to her side as she pulled the door open and stalked out into the sitting room that was absolutely packed with people.
Freezing in the doorway, she stared around at the mass of bodies. Every possible surface had been taken, every inch of floor space and she had to wonder how Kai had managed to get from the other side of the room, where there was an empty patch of carpet, to her door, without standing on someone or even three someone's.
She found the usual suspects, those who lived in Ayathian, but then she found Sobek, sprawled across the couch with his head hanging off the end, mouth wide in silent snores. Dominic curled up beside a purring Bast, Loki leaning up against the wall and drooling heavily, Theseus who had been using Loki's leg as a pillow and was snoring like nothing she had heard before, Catsit was purring quietly atop the bookcase, Mara, Anubis, the Dragon, Zeus, others she didn't know the names of but knew instinctively that they were Gods, and of all people, Hades, sitting on the balcony, looking moody and sombre. He was the only one not asleep, and his eyes found hers. He lifted a hand and motioned for her. But the trip to him was like an obstacle course.
Glancing to Kai and Letari, she gave a slight shrug and started her slow, careful dance across to him, her bare feet finding tiny patches between legs, around heads, and beside outstretched arms.
It took her a good five minutes to get to him and his face was amused as he watched her attempts, waiting until she reached him before he stood and offered his hand.
Hesitating for only a second, she accepted it, and the world melted away around them. His free hand went around her waist, and he drew her closer, leaning down to whisper in her ear.
"If I ever feel you tapping into my souls again, I will ensure you never see the light of day again. I won't kill you, but I will make you wish you were dead a million times over. I will sink you to the bottom of the lake and you will spend an eternity suffering the deaths of a billion lives again, and again until you are mad with it," he spoke so calmly, so quietly, that it sent a chill down her spine and she looked up at him as he drew away, only able to nod silently.
His threat would have meant very little to her had he been angry, but it was his calmness that drove it down into her and made it an undeniable fact that he would do exactly as he promised should she dare to touch what was his again. There was no denying him, there was no fighting, there was only obeying.
He smiled down at her and he bent down to press a soft kiss to her forehead, a tenderness she had never expected from him. "I am rather proud of you for getting to where you are," he said in a murmur, keeping his voice low as not to wake the others.
"Thank you," she whispered.
He drew back, his eyes hard as he studied her face, and then straightened, his attention going to the mass of bodies.
"What are they all doing here?" she asked quietly, her question seeming to surprise him.
"They are here for the farewell," he replied, and it was her turn to be surprised.
"Farewell for who?" she asked, but she had a sudden feeling that she didn't want to know the answer to that question.
He sensed something inside her and kept his mouth shut, but she followed his gaze to the centre of the room where a lump of oddly shaped stone was lying in a weirdly perfect circle of limbs and backs.
She started forward, but Hades caught her, drawing her back into him. She tried to shake him off her, unable to tear her eyes off the thing. She needed to go to it, it was important, but she didn't know why it was important.
Their scuffle opened the eyes of three of the beings in the room, Bast, Catsit, and Sobek looking in their direction with sleepy confusion that snapped to sharp focus as they found her, Hades trying to hold her in place with Kai and Letari still trying to pick their way across the room.
They rose in silence, skipping across the room to reach her and it was Bast who blocked her view to the stone, forcing her to look up into the white eyes of the Goddess.
She had been about to speak when a soft finger pressed to her lips and she fell silent instantly, though it hadn't been the result of any magic.
"Let's go somewhere private," Sobek said, and Hades nodded.
***
He curled his arm more securely around her and the world vanished into blue flame that licked at her skin like a warm caress. They appeared once more inside the underworld, of all places.
He let her go as soon as they were safely inside the cool, dim room that he had met with them in before.
Bast appeared a moment later, stepping into being through a mist of black that dissipated immediately. She had Kai and Letari by the arms, pulling them along with her.
Catsit slunk into view from behind Bast, rubbing up against her skirt before he leapt into Etani's arms, and she caught him on instinct. Sobek arrived a moment later, the wall rippling like water that allowed him to pass through.
"What is going on?" she demanded the instant they were all there and she resented their exchanged glances.
"What do you remember?" Bast asked in a gentle voice, Letari having wandered away to explore the cave.
"The fighting, Alez, taking as many souls as I could get to and…" she frowned, trying to recall but the harder she tried to remember, the more her head started to ache. "Then mostly just blackness and fuzzy images. The Creators are all dead and the sky was repaired, then I was in Ayathian."
Hades cleared his throat, his eyes on Letari, who grinned at him as she set down whatever it was she had been about to steal from the God.
"Do you recall the way people were dying from the Creators?" Sobek asked gently. His tone was so gentle that it sent off warning bells all over her mind.
"They were turning to stone…" she said, her voice trailing off at the end. "Who is it?" she demanded, but Sobek only glanced at Bast and Catsit. "Tell me who it is!" she demanded, and Bast placed a gentle hand on her cheek to try to calm her, but it wasn't working. "Uzo," she breathed.
The word hung in the air and her head began to pound as whatever block she had unconsciously erected to protect herself came crashing down, bringing the memories flooded back.
She didn't know when she had collapsed, nor when she had started hyperventilating, but there wasn't enough air in the room, her throat restricting and her eyes burning.
Her heart clenched, and that wound opened up again, burning and weeping blood even as she wept tears.
Someone had wrapped their arms around her, and she clutched at the arm, her fingers leaving bruises as she tried to figure out how breathing worked, how anything worked. Even how her world was supposed to work again. How could any world work without him in it?
She was being rocked, and she clutched at the arm that was the only thing keeping her in one piece, the only thing keeping her sane as she tried to process what had happened.
She hadn't been able to reach him in time, she had failed him. He had died because of her failures.
She turned her face into the chest of whoever was holding her, and they clutched her tighter, ignoring her tears soaking their clothes. They rested their cheek against the top of her head, and she felt a second pair of arms going around her and the person who held her embracing her as tightly as they were able.
She was not the only one crying in the room, the bodies around her shook with silent sobs as they drew comfort from each other and comforted her, a hand sliding into hers that she clung to, feeling the warmth of it but not knowing, nor caring, who it was.
What was she going to do without him? Was there anyone in either world who loved her who wasn't destined to die? Or was she just a walking curse taking them all down one by one?
It was a good hour before she finally brought herself down enough to be silent, turning her head only enough to find that it had been Bast that had been holding her the whole time, her face drawn with grief and smooth black fur wet with her own tears. Sobek had been the second to join and her fingers had crushed Kai's hand.
Letari was sitting at Bast's back, her cheek against the Goddess' spine as she sat in silence, sad, but not fully able to grasp the emotions with her mental state.
Catsit had crawled into her lap at some point, and she felt a stab of guilt that she had forgotten about him and likely dropped him, but he was still and silent.
Looking up, she saw the red eyes of the crocodile God, his cheeks raw from brushing away his tears, and Hades sat rigid, his jaw set, and eyes focused on the fire. He had not shed a tear, tight and suffering in his own way.
"We should go back before they send someone after us," Sobek said softly and cupped Etani's cheek, pressing a kiss atop her head roughly.
Bast nodded once, but she didn't move and neither did Etani, not wanting to have to deal with the others.
Catsit looked up at them, his eyes sad. She bundled him up into her arms where he settled into place, purring loudly.
Bast looked down at her and kissed her temple gently before they all stood. It was Bast who pulled her back through to the human world, stepping through onto the balcony to a great cry of relief but she kept her back to them, not ready to face any of them.
Looking down at Catsit, she stared into his pained eyes in a silent plea.
"It's not your fault," he breathed.
She bit hard on her lower lip.
Bast slid an arm around her shoulders and they turned to the room, taking in the faces of all that lingered there. Their pain was uniform, a grey miasma that hovered over every one of them as they looked to her for an answer she couldn't give.
Without a word she turned to Bast and offered her Catsit, the Goddess accepting him silently.
Moving away from them, they parted to allow her entry into the room, and she drifted to the middle of the room where the stone lay helpless, lonely.
Picking it up, she looked down at it in silence, biting hard on her tongue to keep the sob down and tasting blood.
Someone moved, and she looked up to find Daemon approaching her, his eyes dulled in his grief.
Without a word, he brushed the tears from her cheeks and pulled her into his chest, his lips touching her forehead. She heard his breath catching as he struggled to keep his own sorrow down and she looked up at him, not knowing what to say to him or any of them.
"He was so proud of you," Daemon whispered and there was no containing her sob.
He clutched her to him as her body shook, hating how weak she was, but she didn't think they were judging her in that moment. They understood.