Hades' Huntress

Chapter 22 - Chimera Gone Wrong

MAKARIA

THE ROOM STILLED and the wind halted. It suddenly became dark, and Hades' silhouette reflected on the ceiling as he stood up from his throne. He became bigger and scarier but not enough to scare me.

I knew I had hit a nerve, and I was there for it. That's what I wanted; to see Hades explode from anger, just like he always did to me.

He growled like a dog before saying, "What do you mean you saw her?"

"Exactly what you understood." I lied, confidently.

There was no one, especially in hell, who was good as me at lying. I created it. And it wasn't the first time I lied to Hades. I had lied before, like the time when my mother wanted to meet with Theseus and wanted me to cover for her, or when my sister, Melinoe, wanted to run away with a demon once but changed her last minute.

And yes, I knew about my mother's affair with Theseus and as much as I hated Theseus, I knew my mother was happy. No one could live with Hades, or worse, love him. Maybe the only person...or creature that barely tolerated Hades was Cerberus, and it's because he had to.

"You're lying." Hades said as a matter of fact.

"Am I?" I challenged him, knowing very well that it might not work on him. He was Hades after all, not the smartest god, but a god, nevertheless.

"Stop playing games, Makaria!" His voice boomed through the room; the doors shook from his powerful voice.

Zeus stood without saying a word as if he knew I was lying. It didn't matter anyways, I only needed Hades to be distracted a bit. Knowing the subject of my mother would rile him up, I had to bring her up. Besides, he still loved her, and it's pathetic.

Before I could reply, I sensed Chimera. I sensed the fire that erupted from her nose and mouth close by. Luckily, Hades was distracted, deeply thinking about what I said as he stilled, looking deeply at the floor.

I took that as my cue and left the room. The guards were still standing outside as if nothing had happened. Not that they could have done anything.

I walked to Hades room and the guards that were once there have disappeared. Ares must have gotten rid of them.

I reached the door and immediately knew something was wrong. Pushing the door open, I strolled in, the smell of fire hitting my nose. What I saw in front of me was the highlight of my day. I so badly wanted to take a picture, but I didn't have a phone with me. All I did was laugh.

I laughed hard. The look on Ares' face was priceless. Chimera was glued to him, hugging his torso as she breathed softly as little clouds of fire erupting from her nose and mouth.

It was strange really, Chimera never, and I mean never liked a boy. Hell, she never liked a person other than me and Persephone.

Why am I jealous?

Seriously?!

"Chimera, back off!" I ordered her. She immediately let go of Ares and came to my side.

Good.

"What did you do to make her like you?" I asked Ares in disgust.

Ares looked dumbfounded at me. He was holding one of my mother's scarves as he couldn't find the words to answer me back.

Now I understand. Ares held something that belonged to my mother. The only way I could think of for Chimera to like Ares was because she thought it was Persephone.

"She thought you were my mother." I grinned slyly.

Now it was his turn to be disgusted. He quickly hid the scarf in his pocket and ushered me to leave. He better thank that scarf for saving him because if Chimera came in while he was defenseless, she would have eaten him alive leaving no crumbs.

"Chimera, we need to your help to leave this place."

Chimera immediately understood and ushered us to follow her. A gut feeling told me that Hades knew what we were doing, and he let us go because he wanted to know my mother's place.

He wasn't as stupid as a lot of people thought, and I better not underestimate him. He was cunning and evil. There was no way for him to be this naïve, but I went with the flow.

Chimera, the second only person after Cerberus who controlled the gates of hell, opened it for us and opened the portal to Olympus High on Earth.

I gave her a kiss before I left, and she would let Ares leave without him giving her a kiss as well. And let me tell you, he almost vomited.

I let it slide only because I knew how hard it was to kiss something from hell. I would feel the same if I had to kiss a unicorn or a horse from Heaven.

Disgusting.

When we arrived at the school's grounds, the students were everywhere. It looked like they were having a party outside as if students were not being killed.

They surely forgot fast.

Ares and I walked side by side and entered the school. No one was in the hallways, which was the perfect time to visit Gloria.

No one would question us.

Reaching her room, we knocked on the door and waited till she gave us the green light to enter. After a few seconds, she herself opened the door.

"Well?" she asked, hoping we'd say we got something of Persephone.

I only nodded, making her smile. I used to think she was behind everything...well, after I discovered that it was Theseus who had been killing the students. He was just here to find Persephone, but whoever the killer was, it played in his or her favor. The blame was put on Theseus and the only person who would love that was Hades. But again, why would Hades pull him out of hell only to put him back in?

"Come in."

Ares and I walked in and closed the door behind us, but not before sensing that someone was watching us. Turning to look behind me, I saw no one, only a shadow of a person leaving.

Who it might be?

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