Fallen Out Of Grace

18.

Covered in Titan blood, Saphrina breathes in and out heavily right next to Ares.

"How many is left," Saphrina says, wiping her cheek from a blood splatter.

Ares wipes his forehead looking at Saphrina, "It's looking like it's going to be a continuous war until someone throws up the white flag."

The Higher being signs off on scrolls as blood is being shed right in front of them as they have all belief it'll work itself out.

****

Hecate somehow reaches Keon and he appears seeing Nysa choking the life out of his mother.

"Stop it," Keon tries to pry Nysa's hand off his mother's neck until he's burnt from the radiating heat coming off her body.

Nysa, not in control, starts to burn Hecate's throat until Keon holds Nysa's face, having her take the wheel of her own actions.

"W-What am I doing here? Who is that? What am I?" She rambles on looking at an almost crisp Hecate and overwhelmed Keon.

"Just sit down," Keon says but Nysa smacks his hand away.

"Is this your mom? Did you plan this?"

Keon sighs then looks at his mom as she shrugs, "How was I supposed to know she'll become some hellhound from hell?"

Nysa scrunches her eyes in anger, "Hellhound from hell? Why in the hell did you even have me here?"

Keon tries to have the two of them calm down but when Fisher appears, all three turn in surprise.

"Now that's new," Hecate says, tapping her neck as it's still tingling from the almost 3rd degree burn wrapped around it.

"What is this place?" Fisher says smelling death.

Hecate raises her nose prissy like saying, "The Underworld, what do you expect? For it to smell like roses and cinnamon?"

Almost instinctively, Hecate takes Fisher by the throat and is ready to sacrifice him instead.

"Mom stop already," Keon says not really caring if Fisher dies or not but Nysa would so he had to pretend it mattered to him.

Nysa grabs Fisher's arm pulling him to her, protecting him from both Keon and Hecate.

"We can really kill both, I mean double the blood? I think it's better if any," Hecate says to her son, being entirely serious.

Keon face palms himself and shakes his, "Mom, please."

Hecate shrugs, "She's powerful...I see that...but he's weak."

Fisher holds Nysa's hand and she looks back to him caressing his palm with her thumb as she reassures him that they'll be okay, showing out of them both, that she was braver than he was.

Keon sees and tries to hold a chuckle in but Nysa cuts her eyes at him before he could let it out.

"All cute but I really need them dead," Hecate says, then snaps her fingers to have both taken and encaged into a iron like human bird cage.

"She can just burn through the iron," Keon says as he sees Nysa holding the iron bars furiously.

Hecate looks to her son saying, "I made sure to engrave markings for things like her spontaneous combustion again, so we have no worries."

Keon looks to Nysa with his heart on his sleeve only to appease his mom as he has a plan of his own to get her out and Fisher unfortunately.

"Pass me that son," Hecate says pointing to a black substance enclosed in a jar.

Keon goes to grab it but Hecate pricks him with something having grey lines whirl around his neck then straight to his eyes.

"What did–you just do?" Keon says to his mother as he starts to stumble.

"A mother knows their child and you're not going to let me kill her but my son," Hecate bends down to Keon as he falls to the ground, "If I have to get rid of you to do it...I will."

****

Cupid gets a favor sent out to have Apollo's son found but when he gets news of what's happening he flutters anxiously.

"Oh no, what am I to do now?" He asks himself, afraid of Apollo finding out about him digging into his life and the fact that his son is in trouble.

In a panic frenzy, Apollo walks in with a painting and wine smiling.

"Look, I painted this out in the garden today, I also brought that wine you like made from those grapes you always devour."

Cupid turns faking a smile, "Oh–you shouldn't have," He goes to grab it but Apollo senses fright.

"What's wrong," Apollo sits the painting down with the wine to the side of it.

Cupid shakes his head, "Uh–well–" Shakily he retrieves the letter he received and Apollo takes hold of it to read what was written.

"You did what? And my son is in some kind of trouble? How did this happen?"

Apollo dropping the sunshine and butterflies he always has in eyes, crossovers with fury and worry.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what went wrong," Cupid pleaded.

Apollo goes into his home and conjures up a portal to the Underworld.

"Where are you going?!" Cupid anxiously yells out to Apollo.

"To get my son."

Stepping through and taking out his bow and arrow and killing whatever undead thing comes flying his way, he makes his way to Hecate.

Walking in his power, he sees the back of the woman he once loved and holds an arrow up to it.

"My son, where is he," Apollo says uncaringly to how she might react.

Hecate turns, "Why would I give a corpse back to you?"

Going against his beliefs, Apollo presses the arrow head into her temple ready to release having her impaled.

"Don't you dare say such things. Where is he Hecate," Apollo roars out.

Keon shivering in the corner hears a voice he's been waiting to hear.

"Is...that..." He shakenly says trying to see but his vision is blurred by the toxin his mother gave him.

"Son," Apollo says out with his heart bleeding for him, missing him all this time.

Hecate bubbles with jealousy, "You bastard. It's always been about him. Never me."

Apollo, appalled by her outburst, says, "I gave you my love and you threw it away and wanted nothing to do with me or our son. The only reason you hid him away was, yes, to protect him but to punish me for loving him the way that I should."

Hecate hisses at him for telling such a thing for Keon to hear, "I love my son," She says angrily.

Apollo looks to Keon, "Not in the right way Hecate."