Hakyeon pulled himself off the ground, coughing as the dust flew everywhere.

He was annoyed, kind of pissed, actually.

Wonshik had told him that due to him not being a god (not fully, anyway), he wouldn't be able to easily pass through the planes, which meant that he would need to physically teleport him into the plane where Taekwoon was currently at.

But the least he could do was give him a bit of warning that he was teleporting him into a desert.

Okay, so it wasn't exactly a desert.

It was more like a corridor with a room on one end. The corridor resembled what he passed as Sanghyuk had first got him out of his bindings.

This time, though, instead of the classy modern feel that the earlier corridor had, this one seemed a bit more medieval, with the old fashioned torches lining the walls and providing minimal light. 

The door at the end of the hallway was also identical to the end that closed the door he was trapped in.

So that was where they were keeping Taekwoon.

He took a few hesitant steps forward.

Wonshik had clearly briefed him on what he was supposed to do. In order for him to arrive and release Taekwoon and him from the spell, Eris needed to be dealt with first, and that was what Hakyeon needed to do.

Eris...

Was she still wearing Nayoung's face?

She had to, right? Otherwise how could she subject Taekwoon to mental torture?

How the hell did he even think that?

He shook the thoughts out of his head, muttering the mantra of "stay focused, don't let her distract you" to himself. However, a cold feeling began to develop in his stomach, slowly seeping through the cracks in the confidence he'd built with difficulty.

He felt like he was about to see his ex-girlfriend.

Well, except they never really dated, and she was an immortal goddess with a sadistic streak who probably got off to mentally torturing her victims.

Yay.

His mind then filled with the thought of Taekwoon, the image of his beloved brother tied up and having the life out of him ran through his thoughts. Along with that, so did the guilt of all he'd done to him, nearly making him lose control, as well as the last words he said to him.

He didn't mean any of them, so he wasn't going to let Taekwoon die before he cleared the air.

He wasn't going to let Taekwoon die hating him.

He couldn't take that.

So, the young demigod took a deep breath and pushed open the large mahogany door.

Was it all a dream? A trick?

Did it mean nothing at all?

These thoughts occupied his mind as he was haunted by images of them, of the impromptu dates, of the feelings of her shyly holding his hand, of the light tingling he felt on his lips when they kissed for the first time, of their passionate first night together, of the warmth he felt in his heart when he woke up next to her. 

Every time he opened his eyes, he'd see her, standing just a few feet away from him.

The person he loved.

Wait, it wasn't her.

It was never her. 

Was any of it even real?

Hell, he slept with her. She should at least have a few thoughts about that, right?

Oh right, Greek Goddess, he forgot.

She stepped towards him, placing her fingers on his chin and tilting his head to see his face. She broke out in an icy smile. "You are seriously the most fun I've had in centuries," she told him.

God, she looked beautiful...

He pulled his face from her grasp, gritting his teeth. "Get...away...from...me..." he said through heaved breaths as he grew weaker by the minute.

She grinned. "What's the matter, Taekwoon?" she asked, taunting him. "Breaking up with me already? But I thought we were going to get married."

He kept his gaze down to avoid looking into her eyes. Luckily, this time, she let it go and got up, tracing her hand along the edge of the table.

"You know, I've never believed that I could have fun with mortals unless they were at war," she admitted. "But then I get to know of another type of war; a war of jealousy. It seems you humans love these types of things."

She then walked over, bending down to his eye level. "I've got to admit however, some of you humans can be really attractive," she murmured in a low voice. 

She grasped his chin again, forcing him to look at her. Her dark eyes scanned his features, from his sharp jaw to his eyes seething with rage before flitting down to his lips. They lingered on his lips for a moment too long, making him extremely uncomfortable, especially now that he was aware of what she was.

It didn't stop that one tiny senseless part of him from urging him to kiss her.

She chuckled. "Ah, if only I could keep you to myself," she sighed dreamily. "But alas, Zeus has other plans for you." A thought then seemed to cross her mind as she looked back at him. "but at least I have you right now."

She began leaning in as every molecule in his body screamed at her to go away fruitlessly. However, a voice made them stop in their tracks.

"Leave my brother alone!"

Hakyeon!

She stepped away from him, turning around to see the door open and a furious yet weak looking Hakyeon standing there. 

What was Hakyeon doing here? How did he escape in the first place? Even if he did, why come for him?

Hakyeon balled his fists as he stared down Eris. 

She grinned. "My, Hakyeon," she said in a voice smooth as silk. "Nice of you to join us."

"I won't say it again," Hakyeon growled. "Leave my brother alone!"

She got up and slowly walked towards Hakyeon. All the while, Taekwoon felt like screaming.

No! Run away! She'll do something bad to you!

However, he grew weaker and the words never escaped his mouth, forcing him to just lie there helplessly and watch his cousin stand up to Eris.

She strode up to Hakyeon, clicking her tongue. "You've certainly been through a lot, haven't you?" she asked him. "Poor baby. Come here and I'll make you feel better."

Hakyeon took a step back. "Stay away from me," he stuttered a bit.

Taekwoon's heart fell slightly. It only took that much to get him to fall for her again? At this rate, it wouldn't even take a minute before she turned them against each other once again.

However, his sharp eyes caught movement behind the table.

On craning his neck, he found two heads of hair peeking out.

Was that...Hongbin? And...Sanghyuk?

What the hell was going on?

Hongbin caught his eye, putting a finger to his lips before gesturing to them with his head. Taekwoon bit his lip[, preventing the words of question from slipping out and alerting her to their presence.

Sanghyuk moved toward him while Hongbin crept up behind Eris, being careful to be light on his feet.

Hakyeon gave no indication that he even knew where Hongbin was, instead choosing to continue to humor Eris. 

Hongbin stood up to his full height, swinging a wooden board across her head, knocking her out. Hakyeon stepped back, giving a deep sigh with wide open eyes. It seemed that whatever she was doing to him, taking her out had broken him free of it.

Hongbin reached into his pocket, pulling out a translucent powder and throwing a bit on her. "That should keep her out for a while," he said.

Sanghyuk, who had begun working on Taekwoon's bonds, was staring at him with wide eyes. "Dude...you just hit a girl..."

Hongbin set a look on him. "Dude," he mimicked, "immortal goddess..."

Sanghyuk shrugged, getting back to untying Taekwoon. Hakyeon rushed over to his side, helping him.

At this point, Taekwoon felt incredibly weak and drowsy, like he had been working for a week straight on zero sleep. He felt like he wanted to drop off and sleep for a year.

"Are you okay?" Hakyeon asked him, concerned.

Taekwoon sighed. "I feel weak," he admitted. "Sleepy."

"Don't sleep," Hakyeon quickly said, fiddling with the ropes around Taekwoon's wrists. 

Taekwoon leaned his head back against the chair headboard. "But I'm tired," he whined softly. "Can't I close my eyes for just a second? I promise I won't sleep."

Hakyeon shook him as his eyes began to droop. "No, you won't sleep!" he said firmly. "You need to stay with me right now. You hear me, Jung Taekwoon? You are not leaving us, not now!"

The final ropes binding Taekwoon fell away and Hakyeon and Sanghyuk stood up. Hakyeon grasped Taekwoon's elbow, pulling him up. "Up and at 'em," he grunted. "Our work isn't done just yet!"

Taekwoon leaned on the table, running a hand through his hair as he panted. He didn't even have the energy to talk back to Hakyeon.

Wonshik, in the meantime, walked through the open doors, his eyes immediately falling to Eris's form lying unconscious on the floor. "I'd love to say I told you so," he told her. "But then again, you already knew that." 

He then walked over to the table, giving Hongbin nothing but a nod before turning his attention to more pressing matters.

"I think the spell's working too fast," Hakyeon helplessly told him. "It's killing him!"

"I know," Wonshik replied. 

"You said you could break the spell!" Hakyeon said. "You can, right? You weren't just fooling around?"

Wonshik raised an eyebrow at him. "Just because I'm the Lord of the Underworld doesn't mean that I'm a liar," he pointed out slowly, making Hakyeon gulp. "Regardless of your impressions of me, I am a being of my word."

He moved so that he was standing right beside Taekwoon. "Is...that...Hades?" Taekwoon murmured in a stupor. "He-He was...with...Zeus..."

"I know," Hakyeon told him. "But Hades is helping us. He's going to break the connection and help us stop Zeus."

Wonshik's eyes lingered on the evil eye on Taekwoon's hand before he looked up at the nearly dead demigod. "This might hurt a bit," he said before moving in.