Xenomorphic

Chapter 23: What Matters Most Part 1

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Steam was spilling out from Asteria's mouth as she constantly sucked in the surrounding air. She was trying to calm down, she really was, but oh my gods was she in a rage!

The Flock! Her family! In Asphodel! What the fuck!? Why weren't they in Elysium!? Those damn judges-her motherfucking uncle-those clit-licking Fates! She needed answers; she was going to get answers, and she was going to get them right the fuck now.

Thalia and Annabeth, deeply frightened by their friend's sudden hostile behavior, backed away slowly, but when they saw Asteria jerk towards the direction of Hades' palace with a vicious snarl ripping across her features, they made to try and restrain the irate daughter of Poseidon, only for her tail to lash out, bashing both of them on the head with enough force to knock both of them out like lights.

Meanwhile, in his palace, Hades was face-palming. Of course his niece would somehow manage to find her past friends in the endless expanse of Asphodel, just because they lit on a bunch of trees. Honestly, this whole mess wouldn't be happening if that telepathic child hadn't decided to be a martyr. This whole mess wouldn't be happening if Maximum hadn't brokered a deal with the judges in order to prevent Angel from going to the Fields of Punishment for indirectly causing the deaths of millions of people.

Oh dear. Asteria didn't know what Angel had done.

This was highly problematic.

Back with Asteria, the raging preteen was torn between ripping across the Asphodel Fields back to her uncle's palace, screaming from here so that the Lord of the Dead would appear before her, or trying to get her family out of her post haste. Orpheus almost did it, so she could definitely do it.

But, lying deep beneath her surface of churning anger, was a cold abyss of betrayal. Asteria had been down here several times to torture the white-coats for what they had done, and not once had Hades mentioned there whereabouts of the Flock; hell, her uncle hadn't even said a passing word about Sally Jackson, Aster's mother.

Actually, come to think about it, Aster herself hadn't even had a passing thought about either the Flock or her mother, and there was only one logical explanation for that: Mist. Hades had used the Mist on her to block her thoughts about her family members. And that thought caused a tremor to rumble through Los Angeles, making four million people panic.

Asteria Jackson came to a decision: beat Hades' skull in, and run out of the Underworld with the Flock in tow.

Just before she could take off for the palace, a pillar of shadow sprang up in front of her. The shadow faded away, reveling the ten-foot-tall form of the God of the Underworld. Asteria shrieked in a way that would've had any self-respecting Queen clapping in approval as she launched herself at the god. Hades, while perfectly understanding of his niece's anger, was not about to stand idle and take inhuman-level punches to the face, and being on his home turf gave him certain advantages against intruders and otherwise unsavory individuals.

Simply put, Hades merely allowed Asteria to fly right through him as though he wasn't there, and then he had shadows wrap around the hybrid as soon as she landed. Asteria struggled mightily against the supernatural restraints, but they were fueled by the essence and will of Hades, and his power far outstripped that of the half-blood, despite her incredible strength.

Realizing that she wasn't strong enough to brake her bindings, Asteria bared her translucent teeth with animalistic fury, saliva dripping from her maw.

'Why!? Why didn't you tell me they were in Asphodel!? Why didn't you tell me they weren't in Elysium!?'

Hades' eyes vibrated slightly in their sockets due to the intensity of the mental tirade. When the world came back into focus, instead of verbally answering, the God of the Underworld showed Asteria the judging of the Flock.