Page 70 of Chaos Unleashed

The Hellier he spoke to swallows thickly and replies, “Things have gotten a bit complicated since you both disappeared. We’re spread pretty thinly; the Princes have been sowing discord in the Punishment half, and we needed as many Helliers as possible over there. We’ve had to shut down the private heavens during certain times so that the Helliers here can go over. We’re all in positions that we shouldn’t be.”

It shows an amazing amount of respect that the Hellier simply replies and doesn’t ask any questions despite the fact that Khaos has been gone for so long.

“I’m so sorry that you’ve all been through this,” Hades says, truly apologetic even though it’s not his fault. “I’m going to need you to make an announcement. Order should start to restore with my power here. The princes are dead, but they are still causing issues, one of which I have to sort out to ensure that the Underworld is truly safe, and as such, I have to leave. They kept me a prisoner and drained my power for many years. The other side does not need to know of any of this until I am back and the Underworld is truly safe again.”

They all nod.

“Sire, I am so glad that you are back, even if it’s only temporary. We have all felt your magic and what it’s done for the Underworld already; some of us were beginning to wonder if you were back,” the tall woman says, with nothing but respect and trust in her tone.

“I’m sorry to ask; I know that you are helping the realm already, and I can only imagine what those dicks put you through,” the tallest one starts and then adds, “but I was wondering if there is anything that you can do to help the unrest in the punishment side. Some of them are under the impression that they can leave, and the princes are going to do that for them.”

Hades frowns in contemplation for a moment as he tries to come up with a solution.

“What about Purgatory?” Khaos asks.

The three Hellier’s eyes go wide, and it clearly means something to them that the rest of us don’t understand. I don’t even know much about Purgatory. I didn’t even think that it was real, but then again, I was unsure that the gods themselves were real until recently, and now I’ve kissed one.

Holy shit balls, I kissed a god, I kissed freaking Hades, and I want to do it again; I want to more than do it again.

I have gotten way off track.

Back to Purgatory, all I really know about it is that it’s sort of like a waiting ground; it’s neither in the soul side nor in the punishment side; it’s just midway. But as we’ve learned so far, there was a lot of information that was not given to the Fae realm, so this is most like one of those things that we don’t know about.

“That could work,” Hades replies, “it’s secure enough; it’s a wasteland; no one can get in or out of it, not even the other gods.”

“The other gods?” one of them questions, but Hades just ignores him; that is not something that he needs to know.

“We weren’t taught anything about Purgatory,” Mayhem interrupts, “not really, but if there is some kind of prince backed uprising trying to happen in the punishment side, is Purgatory going to be enough to hold them? To stop them from trying to gain even more headway into their plan? Also, how have the princes been communicating with them?”

Hades eyebrows rise, “All very good points. I can answer the ones about Purgatory. I can seal them in a part that would have them eternally burning; on a continuous loop, they won’t be able to think of anything but pain.”

“Damn,” I mutter, and Hades eyes dart to me, a worried look in his eyes until he sees the heat in mine, and then they become questioning; I shrug, “What, I think it’s hot when you get all ordery and god-like.”

The Helliers gape at me as Hades bursts out into shocked laughter.

“Sire, you found your Queen?” the one who has been quiet all this time asks, with a giant grin on his face.

Hades clears his throat and looks at me out of the side of his eye, his lips ticking up into a smile, “It’s complicated. Back to the matter at hand, how did the princes manage to get followers in here? We were led to believe that they’d pretty much ignored this side.”

The woman nods, “Yes, they did, for the most part. We’re not entirely sure where the breach came from, but our best guess is that it's from a prisoner. Every now and then, they take a prisoner out. It’s only happened twice, once just after you were presumed dead, and once more recently, it was after the first time that things started to go wrong, and they got the idea that they could escape. The second one was more recently and he came back and added fuel to the fire, he kept talking about how the princes have already made Wraith’s out of some of the souls and set them free.”

“What?” Khaos asks, the growl prominent in his tone.

“Are there prisoners missing?" Hades demands, his power starting to whip around him.

The Helliers share a look that gives me a bad feeling.

“We don’t know, sir. With all of the unrest, having to shut down the heavens on this side and dealing with the upset from that, none of us are sure if any are missing.”

“Fuck,” Storm hisses and then glances at Hades, “what can we do? How can we help?"

Hades' severe look turns into a slight smile before falling again, “There’s nothing that you can do, but I appreciate the offer. Give me a moment, and I’ll figure out if anyone is missing.” He closes his eyes and then opens them again, “Erm, it's been a long time since I last did this, and I don’t think it’s going to go as smoothly as it usually does. I suggest that you all sit down.”

We all sit without question, even the Helliers but then I guess if a god tells you to do something you fucking do it no question asked.

Once Hades is sure that we’re on the floor, even my creatures doing as they’ve been asked, he closes his eyes again. The magic begins to build, a wind coming from nowhere and whipping around him, Hades' wings start to unfold but only enough to steady him. It very quickly becomes incredibly intense, the magic growing, and I can feel its eagerness to comply. If it's anything like my magic, then it's pissed as fuck at being separated from Hades, and after all this time, it could be explosive.

“Fuck,” Khaos mutters, “he’s either hit a spell that he’s trying to break through, or his magic is mad.”

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