Hakyeon finally awoke to a throbbing headache and sitting on a hard surface. However, when he tried to move, something kept him from it, something hard, and splintering.

When his vision returned, he was shocked to find himself tied to a chair.

Looking up, he saw Wonshik, Hongbin and Sanghyuk, all standing over the bowl that was now overflowing with a strange white smoke. Hongbin and Sanghyuk stragtegically evaded his questioning gaze, yet all Wonshik offered him was a raised eyebrow. 

"So someone's finally woken up," a voice behind him said.

Hakyeon whipped around to see Jaehwan standing behind him, holding up a small vial filled with strange red colored liquid.

"What-?"

"I meant what I said, Hakyeon," Jaehwan said, turning his eyes to his for a fleeting second. "This isn't personal at all."

Hakyeon struggled against his bindings. "What are you doing?" he managed out.

Jaehwan instead chose to give a dark chuckle, his eyes fixed on the red liquid in the vial. "This is better than I ever thought," he said, almost to himself. "So much untapped power in both you and your cousin."

Cousin? 

"You!" Hakyeon yelled out as the anger boiled up in him. "Don't you dare hurt Taekwoon!"

"Oh, I don't plan on hurting him at all," Jaehwan told him. "Thanks to you, I won't even need to touch a single hair on his pretty little head." 

Hakyeon stared into Jaehwan's eyes with disbelief. The Jaehwan he knew was always happy, kind and brightening up the place with his smile. He was always mimicking random animals and telling bad jokes. His eyes always had a twinkle in them that could soothe even the most tired hearts.

But the Jaehwan he was seeing right now had a cold expression, his deep brown eyes now dark and foreboding. There was absolutely no trace of the happy, fun guy he used to know.

It scared him, the way Jaehwan was looking at him right now.

"W-what do you plan on doing with him?" he stammered.

Jaehwan chuckled. "Nothing that will hurt either of you," he said, mockingly patting Hakyeon's head. "So you don't have to worry your head off."

Hakyeon looked around the room, at Hongbin and Sanghyuk not looking at him, to Wonshik giving him a pitiful gaze, as if he felt sorry for the situation Hakyeon was in. The worst thing was that neither Hongbin nor Sanghyuk seemed to be making any effort to come and help him out of this mess.

"Have you got what you need?" Wonshik asked.

Jaehwan nodded, lightly shaking the small glass vial. "The final piece of the puzzle is here. With this, the son of Kratos will have his strength transferred, to me."

Hakyeon couldn't believe half of what he was seeing and hearing. Taekwoon would have his strength transferred? 

Did that mean he would lose his powers? 

Could demigods even have their abilities removed?

And what did he mean, transferred to Jaehwan?

Would Jaehwan take Taekwoon's powers?

Why?

All the questions raced around at light speed inside his head, more being added by the second. It all spun around in his head before one small speck of clarity popped up, like a light burning through the darkness as he finally understood why he was doing this.

"What's he giving you?" Hakyeon asked Jaehwan.

"Hm?" Jaehwan hummed.

"Zeus," Hakyeon clarified. "What's he giving you to take Taekwoon's power? What's his game? Does he want to use you as a vessel and wants Taekwoon's abilities so that he can ragain his former power?"

Jaehwan pursed his lips, impressed. "Well, you're right about one thing, that your cousin's abilities will help Zeus regain his former power," he admitted.

"Then what's he giving you?" Hakyeon cut him off, straining against the rope. "If he's going to possess you, it's not like he'll let you live. He'll kill you at once, like he killed that fetus for Hongbin!" Hongbin visually cringed hearing Hakyeon say those words. "Why would you help him?"

Jaehwan smiled. "He's not giving me anything," he said. "You've also got another thing wrong. I'm not Zeus's son."

"Then who-what are you?"

"I am Zeus."

After having one strange dream, Taekwoon woke up with a throbbing head, finding he was upright.

"Wha-why am I upright?" he wondered. As far as he knew, he had just gone to bed at home.

He then felt something sticking into him, something that felt like rope.

Looking down, he had a jump. He was sitting on a chair, wearing a loose white shirt and black pants, three rounds of rope going around his torso and around his hands, tying them together tightly.

Strange, he never recalled going to sleep like this. And besides, where the hell was he?

He struggled against his bonds, looking around the room. 

He noted that he was in a strange room, with nothing but a table and a bowl that seemed to be steaming white smoke. The rest of the room was pretty plain, with burgundy curtains and bleak brown wallpaper.

"Where the hell am I?" he wondered.

"On a different plane," came the answer.

Looking up, he saw someone coming towards him.

"You," he whispered.

Jaehwan grinned. "Nice to see you remember me."

Taekwoon clenched his jaw. "Is this your doing?" he asked. 

Jaehwan shrugged. "Well, not entirely," he admitted. He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a small hexagonal glass vial half filled with some strange liquid and placed it on the table next to the steaming bowl. "I did have help."

Hakyeon? No, it couldn't be...

"Where's Hakyeon?" Taekwoon asked out loud.

"He won't be harmed, so you don't need to worry," Jaehwan assured him.

"Where. Is. He?" Taekwoon asked, gritting his teeth as a familiar anger surged through him.

Jaehwan, however, didn't seem to be fazed by Taekwoon Hulking out on him. "I'd advise you to save your strength," he told the captive. "You're going to need it."

Dread filled Taekwoon's heart. "What have you done with Hakyeon?" he asked.

Jaehwan sighed. "I'm getting tired of answering the same question over and over again," he said. 

Taekwoon, unable to get out of his bindings, fixed Jaehwan with a defiant glare. "What are you going to do to me?" Taekwoon asked.

"Oh, I'm not going to hurt you," Jaehwan told him as if he was bored, instead focusing on opening the vial. "In fact, I might be doing you a favor by taking your power."

"My power?" Taekwoon asked, his eyes widening. 

Jaehwan nodded. "You'll be free of a burden you've carried your whole life, and I'll get a headstart to return to my full power."

Full power? 

"You're not a demigod, are you?" Taekwoon slowly asked.

"Well, you're definitely smarter than he is," Jaehwan said, turning the red liquid over in the vial. "He was definitely slow on the uptake."

Now Taekwoon was worried. "What did you make him do?" he asked.

"Relax, I didn't make him do anything," Jaehwan, or whoever he was, told him. "He did it all by his own will."

"What?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Jaehwan walked over to him, bending down and placing his hand on Taekwoon's shoulder. "I think it's better you find out sooner rather than later," he said. "But the spell that will transfer your powers to me? Hakyeon was instrumental in making it."

No, no way.

Taekwoon turned his eyes down until they rested on his tied hands. Jaehwan walked away from him, and he was so engrossed with all the different thoughts running around in his head that he didn't notice Jaehwan pouring the liquid into the bowl, or that it hissed a little louder and put out more smoke.

He then realized that he was alone.

Once again, he tried to break through his bonds, but they seemed be stuck by some glue. No doubt it was something mystical.

He threw his head back against the headboard.

"Goddamn it," he swore. "Cha Hakyeon, if we get out of this alive, I'm going to ing kill you!"