Hecate.

Days passed, the café slowly returning to its former state. Marcus and Sarah worked tirelessly, restoring what had been lost while preparing for the battles yet to come.

One evening, as the last customer left, the bell above the door jingled once more. A figure in a dark cloak entered, the air around them humming with restrained power.

Marcus narrowed his eyes. "And who might you be?"

The figure pulled back their hood, revealing a face both familiar and unexpected.

"Hecate," Marcus murmured, surprised.

The goddess of magic smiled faintly. "We need to talk."

Marcus gestured toward a nearby table, motioning for Sarah to join them. As they sat, Hecate's eyes gleamed with an ominous light. "The Council's move against you was only the beginning. There are darker forces stirring, and you need to be ready."

The café had finally settled into an uneasy quiet after the chaos of the past few days. The scent of roasted coffee and fresh pastries hung in the air, a stark contrast to the tension that still lingered beneath the surface.

Hecate drummed her fingers lightly on the wooden table, her violet eyes scanning Marcus and Sarah as if measuring their worth. The goddess of magic was neither ally nor enemy, at least, not in any way Marcus had ever been able to define.

Marcus folded his arms. "If you came to deliver cryptic warnings, Hecate, I'm already exhausted."

She smirked. "I imagine you are. But I don't deal in empty prophecies, Marcus. I came because what's happening now isn't just Olympus tightening its grip. Something else is stirring in the dark."

Sarah leaned forward, her brows furrowed. "Darker than Zeus and the Council trying to crush this place?"

Hecate tilted her head slightly. "Far darker."

Marcus exhaled slowly. "Tell me."

Hecate traced a symbol in the air with a single finger, and the candle in the center of the table flared with an eerie blue flame. Shadows stretched unnaturally, curling toward the light as if drawn by something unseen.

"The balance of power among the gods is shifting," she began. "And when that happens, things that have been locked away, buried, or forgotten… they start waking up." She turned her gaze to Sarah. "You've seen the way the ley lines have been shifting, haven't you?"

Sarah nodded hesitantly. "I noticed it the night Zeus attacked. They've been pulling toward something, like… something big is coming."

"Exactly." Hecate's expression darkened. "The gods are moving against you, but they aren't the only ones. The old powers, the ones that predate even Nyx, are stirring. Something is disrupting the natural order, and this sanctuary of yours is right in the middle of it."

Marcus frowned. "If you're saying what I think you are, then we're looking at something worse than the Council. Something primordial."

Hecate inclined her head. "There are whispers of something ancient clawing its way back into existence. Even the underworld is restless. Thanatos himself has gone silent, and the dead are… uneasy."

The weight of her words settled over them like a heavy fog.

Sarah swallowed. "What does that mean for us?"

Hecate met her gaze, her expression unreadable. "It means that if you thought dealing with the Olympians was hard, you haven't seen anything yet."

Marcus rubbed a hand over his face. "Fantastic. And let me guess, you're not here just to warn us, are you?"

Hecate's lips curled in a half-smile. "You know me too well, Marcus." She leaned forward slightly. "I came to offer you a deal."

Marcus raised an eyebrow. "A deal?"

"I can help you prepare for what's coming," she said. "The kind of magic you'll need to hold this place together when the real storm hits."

Marcus narrowed his eyes. "And in return?"

Hecate's expression remained cool. "When the time comes, I'll ask for something. I won't say what it is yet, because I don't know. But when I call in that favor, you'll answer."

Sarah looked between them, her fingers tightening around the edge of the table. "That's vague."

Hecate chuckled. "It's magic, dear. Vagueness is the price of power."

Marcus considered her carefully. He had known Hecate long enough to understand that she never made deals lightly. If she was offering help, it meant she knew the danger was real.

Finally, he nodded. "Fine. We have a deal."

Hecate's eyes gleamed with something unreadable, and she extended a hand. When Marcus grasped it, a spark of raw energy passed between them, sealing the bargain.

"Good," she said, standing. "Then I suggest you both get ready. Because whatever's coming?" Her gaze flicked toward the flickering shadows. "It's already on its way."

And with that, she vanished into the night, leaving Marcus and Sarah in the dim glow of the café's lights, wondering just how much time they had left before the darkness arrived.

The café remained unnervingly quiet after Hecate's departure, as if the space itself was digesting the weight of her words. The candle she had lit still flickered with an unnatural blue glow, casting eerie shadows that refused to settle into their natural places. Marcus stared at the flame, his thoughts a tangled web of worry and calculation.

Sarah, seated across from him, ran a hand through her hair, exhaling slowly. "So, just to recap," she said, her voice carrying a forced calm, "we're now on the bad side of Olympus, you just made a deal with a goddess of magic, and some unknown primordial force is waking up?"

Marcus smirked despite himself. "That about sums it up."

Sarah groaned and dropped her head onto the table. "This is not what I signed up for when I agreed to be your apprentice."

"You could still walk away," Marcus said softly, though he already knew her answer.

She lifted her head, giving him a look that was equal parts exhaustion and determination. "And leave you alone to deal with gods and ancient horrors? Not a chance."

Marcus allowed himself a small smile, appreciating her loyalty. "Then we have work to do."

Sarah straightened. "Where do we even start?"

Marcus stood, rolling his shoulders. "First, we reinforce the sanctuary. The Olympians may have backed off for now, but they're watching. If something even older is waking up, we need to be ready before it gets here." He walked behind the counter and pulled out an old, leather-bound book that smelled of ink and age. "Hecate said Thanatos has gone silent. That's not just an underworld problem, that means the flow of life and death itself is in flux."

Sarah shuddered. "That sounds... bad."

"It is. If the natural balance breaks, the barriers between realms weaken. We're already seeing that in the ley lines." He flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for: an ancient sigil, one carved into temple stones long before Olympus was even formed. "We're going to have to tap into some old magic to make sure this place doesn't get torn apart in whatever's coming."

Sarah leaned over the book, frowning. "This symbol, I've seen it before. In a dream."

Marcus looked up sharply. "And you went in?"

Sarah hesitated. "I was... curious."

Marcus exhaled through his nose, a mix of exasperation and reluctant admiration. "Of course you were."

Sarah crossed her arms. "Well, clearly, it's important. So what does it do?"

Marcus traced the sigil with his finger. "It's a boundary ward. The kind that predates Olympian magic. If we inscribe this into the café's foundations, it'll reinforce the sanctuary, keep out anything that doesn't belong."

Sarah nodded. "Alright. So, what do we need?"

Marcus closed the book. "Gold-dusted mortar, crushed obsidian, and something imbued with a god's power."

Sarah gave him a flat look. "Great. Because those are things you just have lying around."

Marcus smirked. "Actually, I do."

Sarah threw up her hands. "Of course you do."

Marcus moved to the back of the café, opening a small, locked cabinet that most customers assumed held extra coffee supplies. Inside were small glass vials, old relics, and a handful of enchanted objects wrapped in cloth. He pulled out a small, golden coin that shimmered faintly with divine energy.

Sarah peered at it. "What is that?"

"A drachma from the first temple ever built in my name," Marcus said, flipping the coin between his fingers. "Back when mortals still worshipped me properly."

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Did they offer you lattes and croissants back then too?"

Marcus chuckled. "No. Just complaints and inscribed prayers asking for divine sarcasm." He handed her the coin. "This has just enough divine essence to work."

Sarah turned it over in her palm, feeling a faint hum of power. "And the rest?"

Marcus reached into another compartment and pulled out a small pouch of black dust. "Crushed obsidian. Hecate gifted me some years ago. Probably figured I'd need it one day."

Sarah shook her head. "You have a stash of ancient magical components just in case?"

"You've met me," Marcus said simply.

She sighed. "Fair point."

They worked quickly. As the café remained locked for the night, Marcus drew the boundary sigil on the wooden floor, carefully sprinkling the obsidian dust along the lines while Sarah mixed the gold-dusted mortar. Together, they pressed the enchanted drachma into the center of the sigil, letting its energy pulse outward.

The moment the final line was drawn, the entire café shifted. The air thickened, humming with new power. The ley lines beneath them pulsed in response, intertwining with the barrier they had created.

Sarah shivered. "That felt... big."

Marcus exhaled, studying the sigil. "It is. This will hold against most divine interference."

Sarah caught the way he phrased that. "Most?"

Marcus's expression darkened. "If a primordial force is waking up, this won't be enough. It'll slow things down, but if something wants to get through badly enough... it will."

A long silence stretched between them.

Finally, Sarah broke it. "Then what's our next move?"

Marcus leaned against the counter, considering. "We need a plan. More than just Hecate. If Thanatos has gone silent, we need someone who understands what's happening in the underworld."

Sarah frowned. "Like who?"

Marcus's jaw tightened. "There's only one person who might have answers."

Sarah tilted her head. "And that is?"

Marcus sighed, rubbing his temples. "Persephone."

Sarah blinked. "As in, Queen of the Underworld Persephone?"

"The very one."

Sarah let out a low whistle. "And here I thought Zeus was the worst idea we were dealing with."

Marcus gave her a knowing look. "Oh, trust me. If we're going to the underworld, things are about to get much more complicated."

Sarah groaned. "Great. When do we leave?"

Marcus smirked. "First thing tomorrow."

Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose. "I need another coffee."

Marcus clapped her on the back. "Get some rest. You'll need it."

As Sarah trudged toward the back room, Marcus took one last look at the sigil on the floor, feeling the hum of protective energy now embedded in the café's bones.

It would hold.

For now.

But deep in his chest, Marcus could feel it, the stirring of something vast and ancient, watching, waiting.

And he had a feeling that whatever it was…

It was already on its way.