Waking later, she found herself on her back with her legs up on someone, another someone's head on her stomach and one resting on her hip. It was the voices that had woken her, and she frowned as they spoke annoyingly loudly.
"What was it like?" someone asked.
"Which part? The dying, the death, or the rebirth?" another voice asked.
She blinked slowly, trying to make sense of the murmured conversation that was making her ears throb.
"All of it," the first voice said and someone under her feet moved, his stomach rising as he murmured his agreement with the conversation.
"The death wasn't so bad. Just like your legs went numb, scary like you wouldn't believe, and I was terrified you idiots wouldn't be able to keep her safe, or that she wouldn't be able to do what she needed to do. The being dead part was mostly just boring. I made it entertaining by messing around with them as much as possible, and I think they might just be glad I'm gone since I was causing them so much issue. But the rebirth? That was amazing…"
"How so?" the one under her feet asked.
"I felt it when she arrived, and I could feel that Death was trying to get her to give up by moving the passages around. They wanted her to leave, they seemed afraid almost. But I could feel her, sort of in the back of my brain, and so I started messing around with the passages. I couldn't do much to them, just minor things, and I used it to guide her through. She's smart, I knew she'd figure it out, and there she was just standing there at the end of the passage, all small and delicate with those big blue eyes, and that confused look she gets when she's trying to figure things out that make no sense." There was a small chuckle and a murmured agreement, all falling silent as he continued. "When Death arrived, we ran for it, her kiss didn't work and that was plan b, run. We got out of the cave, and you should have seen her… she looked so different and yet the same. Shapeless but her. Like someone had tried to make her out of clay but didn't know how to mould muscles or hands, so they were just rounded and smooth and the only thing breaking her up from the black was this almost outline and then she turned around and her eyes… it was like the night sky was in her eyes, a million-night skies, all swirling and moving. It was the most incredible, beautiful thing I have ever seen. After that we swam up, but I could feel that I was dragging her down and I was getting tired so fast. I tried to get her to let me go, but she refused, she was so determined, and she was trying so hard. I couldn't try any more, it was like I had drained all the life out of myself and then there was this tiny little light. It was like it heard her and it shot down like a falling star, straight for us. She reached out and then we were back, and I could breathe for the first time in years, that first pull of air and the smell of lavender. It was amazing… then I was in here with you lunkers, and Jagum was snoring like thunder."
"That's incredible…" the third voice said gently, a soft hand lifting her legs off him so he could roll over.
"She wasn't the same without you, like part of her had died with you."
"She's been reckless, irresponsible…" the first voice growled.
"I think part of her hoped that someone would actually manage to kill her so she could be with you…" a new voice said quietly, and the room went silent. "What? You didn't get that impression?"
"No…" the third voice whispered.
"I mean… think about it. Vincent and Alez, running off with Dirdos, the thing with Anubis, the Gods binding her, the fairies, her interest in Hunter in the basement… So many other things she has done, throwing herself in front of threat after threat. She was almost begging for it," the newest voice said.
"I feel like I'm missing a lot of information here," the second voice chimed in. "The Gods bound her? Fairies? A Hunter in the basement?"
"Not 'a Hunter', but the man Hunter, or at least he calls himself that. He's a hybrid and there's something about him that she is way too interested in," the first voice said.
"You're only worried because you think he might be moving in on her," the newest voice said snidely.
"Haven't you two got together yet?" the second voice asked and there was an awkward silence.
"Jaia married someone else," the newest voice supplied.
"Shut up. It's complicated," Jaia growled.
"If you wake her up, I'm going to kill you all," the third voice hissed.
"Why didn't you marry Etani?" the second voice asked.
"She was dead for three years," Jaia added and there was a sucked in breath.
"How?" the second voice demanded.
"Alez. Used a soul blade, only a few weeks after you died," the newest voice whispered.
"And what about the fairies?"
"She went to them after brainless over there made sure she walked in on him fucking his wife," the newest voice said. "Asked them to make her forget. She doesn't remember anything about him yet."
"You what?" the second voice growled, the sudden hostility making the room tense.
"Worst part? She had no awareness of the passage of time. One day he's whispering in her ear that he loves her, next he's married," the newest voice was toxic, angry.
"I'm going to kill you," the second voice whispered.
"Don't say that," the third voice said, sounding slightly frightened.
"You need to go and not come back," the second voice was still whispering in that lethal growl.
"I'm not going anywhere," Jaia said, his voice rising slightly while the third voice tried to hush him.
"You've done nothing but break her heart from the moment you decided you wanted her."
"I did not!" Jaia snapped, and she jerked, surprised by the sudden volume. She wasn't the only one who had jumped, a thump and a growl coming from the side of the bed where voice number four had been resting.
"Now you've done it…" Voice number three said, and he moved, pulling her legs off him, and sitting up.
Groaning softly, she rolled onto her side and curled herself into a ball, not wanting to get up and feeling as though she had gone through a weird waking dream.
"Hi beautiful," a silky-smooth voice murmured.
She opened her eyes reluctantly, looking into the bright blue eyes of her uncle.
He yelped as her arm lashed out and she grabbed him, yanking him down beside her and curling herself around him, her face nuzzled into the side of his head and breathing him in.
"Hi…" she whispered, her arms tight around him and rubbing her cheek against his ear.
Kai crawled up on her other side and he dropped down beside her with her back to his front, his arms going around her middle and legs tucked up under hers.
"You did it, you brought him back," Kai said in her ear, and she mumbled softly, pleased but so incredibly tired still.
"You lot haven't been looking after her," Uzo complained as he traced the line of her arm and how little fat there was on her body.
"It's a bit hard to look after someone who keeps running off," Versalis said, resting his chin on the edge of the mattress and looking up at them.
"Don't need looking after," she grumbled, yawning hugely and her eyes refused to open again. "'N, stop talking about me…"
The door open and everyone hissed at the flood of light into the dimness, a soft apology coming from the intruder as his tall frame slunk into the room.
"She's awake," Kai said gently.
"Good," Dirdos said and then flopped over the top of all three of them.
"Get off! You weigh as much as a house!" Kai complained, but she welcomed the warmth.
Reaching out, she took his hand in hers, cupping it to her cheek to warm her face.
He rolled over and Kai yelped as he was jabbed with an elbow, the dragon's head resting against her knee to look at Uzo.
"So, you're the uncle, huh?" he demanded, ignoring the struggling Kai.
"Yes, and you're the dragon everyone is worried about."
"Not everyone is worried," he said and looked down at her, a small smile on her face at the warmth of him.
"Why are you still here?" Jaia demanded.
Dirdos turned to look at him, then at Versalis before his eyes turned back to her.
"Dragons like to collect pretty things."
It wasn't an explanation, but she didn't really need one, he was a comfort to her and his body did wonderful things to hers that made her feel good. It might be selfish, but he was just as selfish, so it worked.
"I'm afraid you're not going to be collecting Etani," Uzo said, and she made a face as he pulled her closer to him and away from Dirdos.
"Stop it, no one is collecting me," she complained, reaching out for the warmth.
"See, no one is collecting her," Dirdos said mildly and when Kai managed to wriggle himself free, Dirdos took advantage and wedged himself in between her and Kai, shoving the vampire out of the way.
She moaned at the sudden heat of him, her body relaxing into it.
"I'll hold his feet, Versalis holds his shoulders, and we stab him. A lot," Jaia said, fuming as she wriggled herself closer to the dragon.
Uzo frowned and reached out to touch her arm, his fingers pleasantly cool on her.
"What happened to her magic?" he demanded.
"Which part?" Dirdos asked, shifting her hair out of the way so he could rest his cheek against her ear.
"What do you mean 'which part'?" Uzo snapped.
"Gods took the Creator side, Versalis has the Death side, and Megara took Winter," Dirdos listed off and he frowned when her breath hitched. "Sorry…" he whispered and kissed her temple, making Jaia growl in warning.
"Have you all been sleeping on the job? You had one task, to keep her safe," Uzo was enraged, and she growled, dragging him closer.
Much to her amusement and Uzo's discomfort, the dragon wrapped his arms and legs around the both of them.
"I gave Versalis my Death magic. It's a God thing according to Hades," she said as she yawned again, resting her head against Uzo's shoulder.
"Did Daemon have anything to do with this?"
"Yes, the demon's a problem," Jaia said moodily.
"He's only a problem because you're jealous," Versalis snipped.
"Shut up Versalis," Kai growled, looking at her forlornly now that he had been nudged out of the way by the dragon.
"You all need to shut up so I can sleep," she grumbled, reaching up to take Kai's hand.
"You smell good enough to eat," Dirdos purred in her ear, and she shivered, a low growl coming from every other male in the room.
Sighing, she wriggled herself free of the dragon and crawled her way to the end of the bed and then off it, rubbing at her eyes as she headed out and bumped directly into Hades as he had been about to open the door.
"Sorry…" she mumbled, not looking up until there was a gentle touch on her wrist, drawing her hands away from her eyes.
Looking up, and then up more at the God, she squinted in the bright light while he studied her face and then looked to Uzo, who had been in the process of getting off the bed.
"I wasn't sure you could actually do it," the God said.
She mumbled softly, slumping forward until her face was resting against his navel, her wrists still in his light grip.
"Want a bath…" she muttered, and he released her wrists to take her arms and pull her up straight instead of leaning on him like a pillar.
"I'm sure your sister will be glad to help there," he said pointedly, and she glanced back to see all except Uzo moving forward to take her.
"Can wash myself, you know…" she muttered.
Kai looking sheepish but Jaia was looking cranky. Versalis only shrugged.
"Will check on you if you're in there for too long without any noise," the vampire king promised, and she nodded.
"Can I actually drown?" she asked of no one in particular.
"Probably not," Daemon said from across the room and Uzo's eyes snapped up, ready to tear the demon apart.
"Play nice," she ordered before she stumbled away from them all, followed closely by a wide-eyed Letari.
"Who was that?" Uzo asked.
"Letari," Daemon said.
"They're supposed to be twins…"
Deciding to close the door on them all, she looked around at her little sister and they both stripped and headed for the bath, sitting on the cold tile while they waited for it to fill.
"You did good, E," Letari said.
Etani smiled, pleased that her sister seemed to be fairly lucid. "Now you can get to know him too."
Letari bobbed her head, and it warmed her heart at the thought of her sister and uncle getting to know each other.
"You'll like him. He's a good man," she said and poured a generous helping of the weird slippery substance that filled the bath with bubbles.
Letari was delighted and Etani watched as her sister made herself a beard out of bubbles, accepting the bubble crown and simply enjoying the peace.