Page 17 of Chaos Unleashed

Grey and Farren both told us a little bit about how they met in the cells but not really much about what happened while they were imprisoned there. I only needed to see their shared haunted looks to know that it was fucking terrible. I’m actually surprised that they both got out alive and that they can even function. Many seasoned warriors have lost themselves and become shells of their former selves or, worse, Wraiths after they have been tortured, and yet Farren, although admittedly jaded, could laugh, love, and be so incredibly gentle even after all of the pain that has been inflicted on her.

She is the strongest and fiercest person I know, and that is the sole reason why I’m not completely losing my shit right now. If anyone can survive the fucking princes for a second time, it's Farren.

Grey chuckles, bringing me out of the wayward thoughts I keep getting lost in.

“They genuinely care; you’ll get used to having more than just me notice if you’re alright,” Grey tells the still slightly confused-looking Khaos. “He’s not wrong though, what’s up?”

Khaos tenses slightly and then sighs heavily, rubbing his hand through his hair, “I just had a strange dream, and I can’t stop thinking about it. It affected me more than I thought it would.”

It’s easy to tell from the way that he shifts that he is really uncomfortable admitting that to us, and Mayhem asks, “Do you want to talk about it, or do you want us to forget you told us?”

Looking relieved, Khaos replies, “The second option, please.”

“You got it, mate,” Reaper replies for all of us and then adds, “if you change your mind though we’re here.”

Khaos just nods, not sure what to say.

Loki, as usual, comes to the rescue and changes the subject, “Where is here? How far away from the next stopping point are we?”

“We’re staying in a small village just up ahead,” Grey replies.

“We haven’t seen any souls, just Underworlders,” Mayhem says, not really phrasing it like a question, but you can hear the curiosity in his voice.

“We’re only travelling through the part of the Underworld that holds the native Underworlders. The Souls are in an entirely different part and travelling through it would be extremely complicated especially since they may recognise me. It might be necessary at some point in our journey if we hit any snags, and we can deal with it then, but for now, I’m hoping that we can carry on through this part; it’s a lot more like what you’re used to.” Grey explains.

“Gotcha,” Mayhem replies, questions dancing in his eyes.

It's nice to know that some things haven’t changed since the last time that I saw them all, and I’m incredibly grateful that they have just accepted me back into the fold despite how we ended things. I didn’t have much choice, but they still could’ve given me a hard time, and they haven’t. I think that their easy acceptance has to do with Farren and also because we haven’t really stopped since I came back into their lives.

Storm and I haven’t even had a proper chance to talk about our father and what me being back in the picture could entail as soon as he realises I’m alive and back. That’s a worry for another time, hopefully far into the future.

“The castle is in this part and not in the part that houses the souls?” Storm clarifies.

Khaos nods, “Yes, so there shouldn’t be any reason why we would need to go through the Soul side.”

Zev clears his throat and looks slightly uncomfortable as he dodges a branch, “Can you tell if she passes when you’re here?”

I tense, it hadn’t even occurred to me that he may not be able to tell, and in the back of my mind, I have sort of been counting on the fact that if something went wrong with Farren, Grey would know because he’s Hades and he said he knew when any living creature in all of the realms died, but what if it doesn’t work here for some reason.

My heart pounds in my chest as my tail starts stabbing the air in preparation to kill whoever has taken her from us.

“My gift doesn’t turn off depending on location; not even the suppression spell that I had on me could stop that part of my magic, even when it was first put on me.” Grey starts to explain as the lights of the village begin to appear through the trees. “I will know if she crosses over.”

My anxiety dips a bit, although the thought of her crossing over absolutely terrifies the fuck out of me, so it doesn’t go entirely. I try to take comfort in the fact that she hasn’t crossed over yet.

“We’re here,” Reaper says unnecessarily as we start to head down a dirt street, with houses and shops on either side of us.

It’s only early evening, so the streets are still bustling with people going about their business. At least it was when we first arrived; as we get further into the town looking for somewhere to stay for the night, I start to notice that not only are the villagers looking at us in fear, but they start to head off the street shutting the doors tightly behind them, by the time we get to the town centre they’re being a lot less subtle about the fact that they’re trying to avoid us.

As the last door in the town square slams shut and we’re left alone, Rival stops his horse, prompting the rest of us to do the same, “Okay, I thought I might be being paranoid at first when everyone started to disappear, but I know I’m not imagining it now.”

“They’re scared of us,” Loki frowns, clearly not liking that they all appear to fear us so much.

“Not just scared, they’re absolutely terrified of us.” Mayhem points out, his gaze moving from staring at the closed doors and empty streets to looking at Grey and Khaos, “Is it because we’re obviously not one of them, and we’re not dead?”

Grey shrugs, “I mean, that would certainly make them curious, but I don’t think it would make them scared.”

“There’s no way that they could recognise you right?” Reaper asks.

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