Hera.
I knew even before I saw her eyes clearly, even before the tears cascaded down her cheeks, that Kaira was no longer in charge. It wasn't her staring back at me, but the woman who had once vowed she would destroy me and everything I held dear, including anyone I dared to love. Because I refused her. Because I dared to look at her and see the decay underneath the perfect skin and pretty face, refusing to have anything with someone like that.
Someone who would stop at nothing to get the power she felt was owed to her.
"Kaira—"
"Don't come any closer!" she thundered, her voice cracking as she took one shaky step forward. "Please!" Pain laced every word, erupting all over her face as she pulled herself backwards, fighting with her own body and her own mind, trying to stop the inevitable. "Get out of here, Hades!" But I couldn't.
I wouldn't.
I would follow her, even in death, even in pain and the destruction of the world.
I would follow her till the ends of the earth, and into the unknown pits hidden from the human eye. I would follow her everywhere, but I would never allow her to be in pain because of me. I would never forgive myself if the woman I loved, the woman I was created for, would stand and fight the pain because she was terrified of hurting me.
Her lips trembled as her body pulled her forward, toward me. I looked down and saw her tight fist and the dagger being held in her right hand—the dagger we had spent years looking for.
The dagger of death. The same one Thanatos used after Hera got inside his head, forcing his hand. The dagger that had miraculously disappeared, but was obviously always just hidden from the rest of us. We suspected it was with Zeus, but could never know for sure.
For one to be able to wield it, they had to be the messengers of Death, Gods, or otherwise, and there was not a single being on this island strong enough to withstand its power. Not until Kaira.
"It's okay?—"
"No!" she bellowed, her tears running freely now as she pushed toward me, coming closer than before. But I didn't stop. "Please, I'm begging you," she croaked. "Stop. Stop, Hades. I can't," she sobbed. "I can't stop it. I c-can't." The dark veins in her neck darkened, becoming wider, pressing against her, and I saw the moment they squeezed tighter.
Her body swayed, those eternal eyes I could get lost in closing as the pain of Hera's influence pressed against her.
I knew the cost of that touch. I felt it on my own skin once upon a time, and the more I fought, the greater the pain became. My mind, my body, they were being split in two, yet I could do nothing as I watched like a spectator while my body did things I didn't want it to do.
"Stop fighting it, Kaira."
"No!" she cried, those silver eyes spearing through me as she opened them again. "T-they want me to kill you," she whimpered. "They want your power, Hades. T-they—" Her body collapsed on the ground, and I ran.
I ran like a man possessed, knowing the danger I was in.
But I didn't care. Not anymore.
My body skidded to a stop as manic laughter spilled through her lips and as she looked up at me, there was no longer a trace of silver in her eyes.
"You're so fucking predictable," the woman I despised said, using the voice of the woman I loved. "Rushing after her like a little knight, thinking you could save her." Kaira stood up, her body no longer shaking, no longer her own, now owned by the demon holding her in its clutches.
"I'd say it's nice to see you, Hera, but I'd be lying. Besides, this is so much like you—sending somebody else to do your dirty work."
Kaira took a step toward me, lifting the dagger toward her other palm and slicing through. My heart crashed against my rib cage as the dark rivulets of blood rushed from Kaira's palm onto the ground.
"You need to let her go," I gritted out, unable to look away from the cut on her palm. Had she been anyone else, that one cut with that blade could've killed her. "I'm here. Show yourself and let Kaira go."
Kaira tilted her head, scanning me from head to toe. "Now, where's the fun in that?"
She ran toward me with a roar accompanied by the thunder slicing the skies, holding the dagger up in her hand as she slammed into me, sending me flying toward the edge of the meadow, right where the forest started. Birds flew up into the skies as her elbow slammed into my gut, depriving me from breath for a moment.
I blocked her arm as she raised her dagger, ready to slam it into me, sending it flying to the ground. Kaira's eyes shone with unshed tears, but it was the malice of Hera's influence and the darkness swirling there that had me pushing her away from me. Too fast for the human eye to follow, she jumped back and picked up the dagger, breathing heavily while she observed me.
"You know," she cackled, throwing the dagger up in the air and catching it again, "it's been a while since I last had someone like this in my clutches." She bent her knees, those eyes slicing through me with the promise of pain. "Someone this powerful and this fucking clueless."
Her body slammed into me, pressing me against the tree behind me, and as that dagger rose again, I wrapped my hands around her neck and pulled her closer.
"Fight her, Kaira," I bit out, waiting for the pain to come. Waiting for the end of me to happen. "Fight her, please." But the pain never came, and instead of seeing the darkness swirling in her eyes, that silver I craved so fucking much started pushing through. The hand holding the dagger started shaking, stopping her assault, giving me hope to push.
