Page 34 of A Touch of Chaos

“I did,” said Hermes. “I hope it helped.”

Hades could hear the grin in his voice, but he didn’t understand.

“What?” he asked, looking in the direction of the god, but he found he was no longer there.

Once again, Hades was alone, and while he hated the dull ache of disappointment that bloomed in his chest, he felt far more present than he had before.

With his focus renewed, he continued through the labyrinth. He had no way of knowing where exactly he was going—if he was closer to the center or farther away. He did not even know where heshouldbe heading. He just knew that stopping was worse.

That was giving up.

At some point, he turned a corner and came face-to-face with a different kind of darkness. He halted at the edge of it, hesitant. He knew he had not made it to the end of the labyrinth. He suspected this was the middle—or closer to it at least.

How vast was this darkness? How endless?

He had nearly lost his mind surrounded by walls. What happened when there wasnothing?

He let one foot slide forward and then the other, and as the dark pressed in on him from all sides, he had the thought that this was the kind of thing he would face if he was to enter the Forest of Despair—nothingness, a void.

Loneliness.

Bright lights flooded his vision, and they burned away the dark so suddenly, his eyes watered.

Theseus’s laugh echoed in the space that Hades could now confirm was the center of the labyrinth, and it truly did go on for miles in each direction.

“You look ridiculous,” the demigod said.

Hades blinked, adjusting to the light, and saw Theseus opposite him. Of the two, he was the one who did not look the part. He was too clean and too tidy for the madness of the labyrinth, dressed in his tailored blue suit and pressed white shirt.

“I suppose I would have been disappointed if you hadn’t tried to escape.”

Hades glared and held his claw blade tighter.

Theseus noticed and clicked his tongue.

“Hera will be distraught to learn you killed her pet,” said Theseus.

Hades continued to say nothing.

“You know, Hades, talking to you is like talking to a brick wall.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t.”

Theseus smirked. “But I haveso muchto say,” he said. “And so does your wife, apparently.”

Hades ground his teeth. He did not know what Theseus was referring to exactly, but it sounded like Persephone had done something to piss him off.

“Perhaps you can tell me how you manage to keep her quiet,” Theseus continued. “Or is it that your dick is always in her mouth?”

Hades gripped his knife tighter.

“Maybe I will have to try that,” Theseus said.

Hades charged. Racing across the floor of the labyrinth, he jumped, vaulting through the air, roaring as he brandished the deadly claw.

Theseus did not move an inch as Hades barreled toward him. A sliver of unease trickled down his spine. He knew he had missed something, and then it hit him—literally.

A heavy weight sent him crashing to the floor. Helanded hard, his body denting the ground. He realized quickly that he was trapped beneath another net. His fingers tightened around the lion’s claw as he attempted to cut himself free, but he could not move his arm.

---