CHAPTER XXVI:Death’s Loving Charm.

Thanatos' charm took hold of me, and it felt amazing. A pure state of bliss, no prophecies or problems, but something tried to call me away a bit. I ignored it, and gave my full attention to Thanatos.

I heard drowned out voices and calls, and saw the occasional glance Thanatos would shoot over my shoulder every time I heard one. What were they saying? Was that my name they were calling? Maybe warnings? Maybe battle cries? I was missing something here, but what was it? What was I supposed to be doing? What response was I supposed to give to these whispers and murmurs that were calling out?

Thanatos looked into my eyes, and slowly moved his gaze to my weapons (when did I sheathe them?), and took my dagger from it scabbard.

"Blood magic, very dangerous for god and demigod alike. A very dangerous blade indeed, and this blades lethality perfectly matches it's users beauty." Thanatos said, handing me my dagger with a lovely smile.

I smiled back at him taking my dagger back. I went to sheathe my blade, but he stopped me.

"Not yet my dear. I have a small task for you before you do." He said in quiet voice.

"What is is?" I asked willing to do anything he asked of me.

His face drew close to mine, and I could feel his cold breath on my skin. He looked into my eyes, and I couldn't help but notice his eyes. His eyes were dark and beautiful, like a void or obsidian, surrounded by unnaturally pale skin.

"Kill in my name Mary, defend me with your last breath if necessary." Thanatos said calmly.

He turned me around, and I saw four human shaped shadowy figures. I drew my sword to pair with my dagger. The voices of the figures were distorted, and broken. I couldn't make out a single word. What were they saying?! It was maddening that I couldn't make it out! Not even a single letter got through, and the figures seemed to move back. It seemed to be in fear, or was it just getting in position? I didn't know, and I wasn't gonna wait to find.

I moved forward quickly striking the first figure with a cut from my sword. The figure went to recover, and I bashed the hilt of my sword into their face, sending them to the ground for good. Another figure moved in, and I blocked their attack quickly and kicked them down. I moved with amazing speed, that I never knew I could manage. I Blocked attacks and countered them when I could.

Then out of the corner of my eye I saw my black and white snake curled up in a ball. What was my familiar doing here? I wasn't in danger! I didn't need her here! She was just a distraction! Thanatos' charm broke for a second, and I snapped back to the figure in front of me. It was Seth, and my blade was pressed against his throat with a small bit of blood moving from the point of the blade. He was bloody and cut up, but breathing. I dropped my weapons and quickly knelt next to him.

"Seth! I'm so sorry!" I yelled helping him up, as my hands and legs shook uncontrollably.

He looked at me tiredly with a hint of forgiveness in his eyes. I looked around seeing Adam with his dagger out, Olivia sitting on the ground with blood coming from her nose, and Penny held her sword to my face. Blood moved down the blade, and formed a small puddle on the ground.

"STEP. BACK." She said angrily.

I looked up at her and saw her cut up as well, "Penny, I'm so sorry this was-" I began to plead with Her, but she pressed the blade to my throat.

"Until I'm certain that you aren't under Thanatos' charm you need to step back while I handle this. CLEAR?" Penny said, a bit of her anger fading.

My heart stopped, as my body began to hurt a bit. I was injured, but when did that happen. I didn't get hit once. I looked at my companions once more, Did I do this? Was I responsible for doing this to them? I moved away from Seth as ordered and searched my thoughts, but the fight was starting to blur. I couldn't make out anything. All I saw was shadows and blood.

I sat down and watched Penny take care of Seth and Olivia feeding them Ambrosia pellets from a makeshift medical bag, and patching up any wounds that didn't heal right away. I felt so helpless stuck here I wanted to help, but I'm afraid the next time I got a sword pushed against my throat it wasn't gonna be a warning.

Adam limped over to me after being bandaged, and sat next to me. A little blood was already soaking through, but he still seemed to be in better shape than normal.

"Soooo Thanatos, huh?" He said laughing a little trying to bring light into this dark situation.

I punched him in his arm hard and heard him cry out in pain.

"Damn girl…..haven't you hurt me enough today." Adam muttered out.

I sighed and got up "I'm going to go find those artifacts so we can get out of here." I said pissed off.

Adam was a contributing factor, but I was mainly pissed off at Thanatos using me like a fucking puppet for his fucking amusement. I turned my charm necklace back to the blessing of Ares, feeling an immediate burst of power, and walked into the ruined castle.

The throne room had dust and bones scattered about, and seemed to be more destroyed than before. I walked through palace halls, which had an eerie dull light shining through them giving them a ghastly appearance. I looked around at the ruined black stone, and at the old decorations that lined the halls. Planters, etched marble, old withered statues of my mom and dad, and even some broken stone statues from Medusa. I followed the eerie hallways till I got to a garden.

The garden was relatively empty since all of the plants were withered and dead. They looked so out of shape that breathing on them would turn them to ash. I kept looking around and saw one tree. One glorious, alive, tree. A pomegranate tree in the middle of the garden.

"The tree of Persephone's damnation." I heard a voice call.

I was suddenly off my feet, and I felt like I was bliss again. I looked up again and saw Thanatos and, despite everything that happened, fell for him all over again. Even with the burst of power from the charm of Ares, I was no match for Thanatos' deathly charm which pulled me from all of my senses.