Children of the Lost Ruler- Ghost Goddesses Book One

People Apparently Enjoy My Depression. Can Someone Explain That, Please?

I gotta say, my first impression of my father was not a very good one.  But I couldn't exactly focus on asking him why the fuck I was nonexistent to him, because Zeal decided to be the little motherfucker he is and steal the show.
He walked over to where we were being held and somehow made them see us, even though there wasn't a shadow barrier.  Andy and Harper struggled in their chairs, trying to get to us.  "Nope.  Don't even try it.”  They continued struggling, and the bands around them glowed with heat, causing them to yelp in pain.
I tried once again to get through the bars, even though I knew it wouldn't work.  Zeal chuckled.  "You've got yourself a feisty one, eh Salem?"
Salem, normally calm, cool, collected, and I'm gonna act so you can’t see how I really feel, glared.  His glare was so purely full of rage, it very nearly put one of Laena and I's glares to shame.
I saw the man falter for just a second before going back to his joyous, manipulative self.  In the time he was distracted, I pulled out my pistol and shot the lock.  See, I thought to myself, there is a reason why I sleep armed.  I knew it'd be necessary sometime!
I pushed the door open and calmly walked over to Zeal.  "Benjamin, it isn't very nice to keep us locked up in there when everyone else gets their own chair.  If we promise to behave, can we sit with the others?"
He shrugged.  "Sure, that sounds reasona-- how did you get out?"
I showed him my gold ring with the onyx stone in the centre.  "I normally don't disguise it, but I didn't want to be too confident.  I figured it'd be easier to hide it from you if it was like this.  Just using my survival skills, and you can't blame me for that, can you?"
He sighed.  "No, I can't."  Four more chairs appeared in the circle.  "Go join your companions."
I smiled.  "Thank you!"
I grabbed Salem's hand and plopped him into a chair next to me.  Mel and Kae joined us, sitting on either side of Say and I, as would be their request.  Since Blobby took forever to get his thought process where he needed it, I started messing with the black leather bracelet on my wrist.  Easily concealable, and my whips would come right to my hand.  My favourite kind of disguise.
Salem, ever observant, sent me a questioning look. You'll see, I mouthed back.  His head moved ever so slightly, indicating that he heard me.  If I didn't know his body language was so important to understanding his emotions, then I never would've noticed, so it came to no surprise that Zeal didn't see a thing.  He walked back over and began to talk.
"This, young ones, is a peace negotiation.  Or, more likely, a ransom meeting.  I am well aware that most of you have no idea about the goddesses' prophecy, so I shall ask my dear Ligeia to recite it for me.  Ligeia?"
I flashed him a polite smile before beginning.

"Two shall go to where from few return,
To either save the place, or watch it burn.
Though never met, they are blood,
From opposite sides of the calming flood.
Two parts to this quest, they must complete,
Or else a great god, will end up beat."

The gasps were audible from the idiotic peasants, so I continued, addressing our captor.  "Where the fuck is my father?"
His smile faded.  "I believe you know the answer to that, Ligeia, darling." I growled, causing him to chuckle, where only a few of us noticed his nervousness.  I could've cried with happiness.  It was all coming together.  We just needed to distract him a little while longer.
From the periphery of my vision, I saw Salem twist his iridescent ring around his finger.  I then noticed that his sword was on his left hand.  Why I was distracted by my boyfriend being left-handed, I could never tell you, but I was.
Blobby began to talk about demands that we could never meet, so I only listened to what was important in between his rambles.
After he'd listed his demands, Erebus showed up again, startling the mortals, and removed the veil that was obscuring Pluto from sight.  Nico began to thrash in his chair at the sight of him, and would've burned himself alive doing so if Will and Hazel hadn't grabbed his hands comfortingly.
Then, Erebus started talking. "Unbeknownst to you simple mortals, this was the objective of your whole quest.  The leaders were supposed to be Melaena and Ligeia, but you wouldn't know that without them revealing their secret.  The two of them are goddesses.  They were exiled from Olympus for being born powerless."
"But they--" Salem began, warranting me to clamp a hand over his mouth.
“"Shut the fuck up, babe! This shit is important!"
Erebus nodded in thanks.  "Yes, Salem, they have powers.  Now. They didn't always.  As I was saying.  The two of them could get back into Olympus because of this.  If they complete a heroic act."
Salem's face contorted into a mask of horror.  His hand tightened around mine, demanding my attention with the force of the squeeze.  His eyes were pleading with me.  I flashed him a reassuring smile and a we'll talk before squeezing his hand gently and turning my focus back on the psycho that was explaining most of my life to people I didn't fully trust.
Mel utilised her famous death glare to get him to glaze over certain topics, but I just let him talk.  The longer he droned on, the more time I had to run through my plan one last time.  This had to work.  He didn't think things through very well, and I intended to get the better of him with it.
While he circled back and gave a very detailed account of what happened to Larissa, I covered us all in a layer of shadows.  Miraculously, the gods were so enthralled with my sister's death story, they didn't notice.  I looked to the rest of them.  "I don't have much time to explain, so I need your answer.  Do you trust me?"
To my complete shock and elation, the answer was a unanimous yes.  "Thank you," I whispered, reliving what was being said by Erebus as he said it.  They all nodded.  I dropped the shadows, letting tears slip down my face, because, A: I hated reliving this, and B: they had to think they were winning.  Seeing my facial expressions (which were now entirely faked), the gods grinned.
"...And that's why we'll get what we want.  Your precious "goddesses" are weak.  They can't even control their own emotions.  And they allowed themselves to be trapped in a way that none of you can escape from.  So bravo, girls, bravo! But you won't be getting your father back.  Olympus will fall, and it'll be all your fault!"
I dropped the act, putting on a hard face and brandishing my whips.  "That, dear grandfather, is where you're wrong.  Mel, now!" I finished with a yell.
She smiled, and in a flash, her demeanour changed entirely.  Daeva had finally come out to play.