Page 73 of Chaos Unleashed

Hades nods, “Exactly, I’ve gone before, not for this long and not without checking in or letting them know I was coming back. I’ve never just disappeared on them before, but even a god needs a break every now and then so I did take time off occasionally.”

“I guess that makes sense; I mean, I imagine that it could get pretty monotonous doing the same thing every day for thousands of years,” Zev replies.

“You’re really old,” I mutter, and then smirk when he shoots me a glare.

“I am, and I’ve seen all sorts of incredible and shocking things in my time and yet, you still surprise me daily,” he replies, smiling.

“I don’t think that’s going to stop any time soon,” Loki adds before I can say anything.

“Nah, no chance,” Mayhem agrees, “Farren isn’t capable of not surprising us.”

“Hey, it’s not like I’m doing it on purpose,” I reply, somewhat defensively.

“No, you’re not, and that's why we know that you’re not going to stop surprising us any time soon.” Rival replies, pulling me under his arm and kissing the top of my head.

I haven’t been back with them for very long at all, but I’ve already noticed that they are a lot more affectionate with me; they’re all finding ways to touch me, and I love it. I like the reassurance that they’re here and that they’re real. It’s helping to settle and smooth some of my raw edges.

“It’s a good thing, Farren,” Reaper adds.

“Yeah, we love it,” Loki agrees.

“It certainly ensures that nothing ever becomes boring,” Khaos adds with a smirk.

I don’t really know what to say to that, so I just smile and look around. Noticing that, whereas before, the streets seemed to be abandoned, now, people are talking outside the front of their houses, mowing their lawns, or picking up shells on their beach. It’s an incredibly eclectic view, and I don’t think that I would ever get bored of looking at the different houses.

“They don’t look very happy,” Storm observes, obviously watching the souls like I am.

“Would you be?” Zev asks and then clarifies as he adds, “They’re in heaven, and yet they’ve been separated and isolated from their families and the friends that they’ve made here; I’d be pretty pissed myself.”

“Yeah, actually, now that you’ve mentioned it, I think I’d probably feel the same,” Storm replies.

“Hopefully, they will be happier when they realise that it won’t be happening again and that it's back to business as usual,” Khaos replies.

“Has it been working properly since you’ve been gone?” Loki asks and then rolls his eyes, “That was not very clear; what I mean is, have all of the dead got here like they were supposed to?”

Hades looks contemplative, “I’m not too sure, and it’s something that I’m going to need to talk to someone about before we leave.”

He doesn’t say anything else as I feel his magic spike, and suddenly, one of the Helliers that was here before is standing in front of us again.

“Sire?” he asks, not looking as shocked as he should be. I’m guessing that he is used to being summoned, or it’s at least a normal occurrence.

“I’m sorry; I know that this isn’t your usual area of expertise, but I don’t really have time to deal with the reaction of me being here from someone else.” Hades starts to explain.

The Hellier nods, “Yes, I understand that. I will try and help as much as I can.”

“In my absence, have the souls been crossing over as they should?” he asks.

The Hellier frowns and shakes his head, “They have from most of the realms, although it’s been taking them longer to cross over. The only realm that we’ve had an issue with is the Dragon realm; we’re not getting as many souls through as we should have. Maybe only one or two a day, and with a realm that size, there should be many more than that.”

“Only the Dragon realm?” Mayhem asks; when the Hellier nods, he adds sarcastically, “Well, isn’t that a coincidence?”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Hades agrees.

“Are you sure?” Khaos asks.

“As far as we’re aware, it’s only the Dragon realm. We know that they’re still dying in the right numbers, but for some reason, they’re not making it here,” he replies.

“Do you have any idea where they could be ending up?” Killian asks the Hellier.

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