Jayden's year of grief (Sequel to the hybrid ranger)

Chapter 13 saving John from the underworld part 3

Lauren walked out of the tunnel that she was in with John. It turned out that one of John's ex-girlfriends was there. The one that helped her get to him was Kira. "Kira helped me get to you." Lauren said. "Hades has much to answer for." John said. "Indeed he does." Lauren said. Hades picked three people that have to stay in the underworld and for one of them he chose Lauren. They couldn't give him half of her heart because of that. John and Lauren were at the underworld version of the shiba house. Lauren pulled off a cloth that was covering some of the ottomans. "Come sit down. Let me take a look at you." Lauren said. "Are you sure you want to? Hades sort of knocked the handsome out of me." John said as he sat down. Lauren sat down next to him. "No one's that powerful." Lauren said. Then she waved her hand over John's face while doing a spell she had been practicing. "Clear away impurities, refine his skin. Let others see the light of beauty that is inside. From now forward he will not be ashamed." Lauren said as she waved her hand over John's face. Lauren noticed the look on John's face. "What's wrong?" Lauren said. "It's just, uh... a lot has happened between us." John said. "Then what's the problem?" Lauren asked. "I'm the problem. Lauren, you were the dark ranger for six weeks, and only gave in to the darkness out of love. I plunged in headfirst in a second, for revenge. I was weak." John said as he stood up and walked away by a few steps. "Not in the end." Lauren said. "You raised the bar very high Lauren. And the fact is, I don't measure up." John said. "Let me be the judge of that." Lauren said as she walked up behind him. She got in front of him. "If you didn't, would I have come all the way down here to try to save you?" Lauren said. "That's my point. I'm not sure I deserve saving." John said. "What are you saying? That you want to stay down here?" Lauren said. Then there was a knock at the door and Lauren answered it. "Hi. Can I..." Lauren said. "John?" Ken said. "Ken?" John asked. "So the rumors are true. After all these years my little brother is finally here." Ken said as he walked up to John. They told him why he was down there. "Ken, what about you? Why are you down here?" John asked. "I wish I knew. I've spent countless years trying to figure out a reason." Ken said. "There is no reason. Hades has the game rigged so no one can leave. My brother is proof of that. Never did a bad thing in his life. He even died nobly, stopped a treacherous king from poisoning the realm." John said. "Stop it. You making me blush." Ken said. 😊 "But Hades has you two trapped down here, and that cannot stand. The only way everyone will get free is if we defeat Hades, once and for all. Ken, you've been down here a very long time. Surely you must know something that can help us." John said. "I know this is a very dangerous game you're playing. There are those who have tried to overthrow Hades before. And they always spoke of a... a book which had the power to defeat him. I tried to find it myself, but I'm not even sure what to look for." Ken said. "I think it's a storybook." Lauren said. "Storybook? Oh, I'd wager it would take more than stories." Ken said. "No, no, no, no, no. She's onto something. In our world, there's a book like this." John said. "Everything up there has a version down here. There has to be one in the underworld." Lauren said. "If there's a story in that book about Hades, we can learn his weakness and exploit it." John said. "Alright. If you believe in this John, I'm with you, till the end. This fiend trapped me and tortured you. The day you push your rangers too far..." Ken said. "Is the day that the battle begins." John said. As they started to look for the book Ken comes over to Lauren. "Lauren, can we talk?" Ken asked. "Is this like a protective big-brother talk where you wanna make sure I'm good enough for John?" Lauren asked. "No. Because I already know you're not good enough." Ken said. "What?" Lauren said. "John blames himself for ending up here. But he told me what happened. Sounds to me like it's not his fault. It's yours." Ken said. "I think we both made mistakes." Lauren said. "John's been fighting darkness his entire life. And you pushed him off the cliff." Ken said. "I was trying to save his life." Lauren said. "And it was a bloody selfish thing to do. He had a chance to die a hero, to move on. And you took it from him." Ken said. "That's not fair. I'm down here risking everything to save him." Lauren said. "And is that really what he needs? Or what you need?" Ken asked. "Were you this self-righteous when you were alive?" Lauren asked. "When it came to my brother, yes. If he defeats Hades today, he'll forgive himself. And he'll have another chance to move on. When that happens, stop thinking about your own desires and let him go." Ken said. "I'm not sure I can do that. Not after what happened with my younger sister." Lauren said. "Wait, you have a younger sister?" Ken asked. "I had one, but I lost her. I was sitting by her bedside, holding her hand as she slipped away." Lauren said. (Flashback: Lauren is sitting by Ariel's bed and is holding her hand as Ariel takes her last breath. End of flashback) "Oh, Lauren, I'm so sorry to hear that." Ken said. Then they went back downstairs and John looked over at Lauren. "You alright?" John asked. "Yeah, fine. Let's keep looking." Lauren said. Then Emily walks in. "Hey. What's going on?" Emily asked. "Oh, looking for the storybook. You know, underworld edition." Mia said. "Really? Well, I think I might know exactly where it is." Emily said. "How would you know that?" Mike asked. "Bulk. I saw him at... at the park. He said the Sorcerer's mansion is down here, and there's a bunch of his stuff inside. Like the storybook." Emily said. "Finally some good news." Kevin said. "Well, sort of. The house is locked with magic, and the nighlok Tooya has the key." Emily said. "The first nighlok Tooya? Hades has panache, I'll give him that." John said. "Well, it's time for my brother and me to have an overdue chat." Ken said.