A silly smile played on my lips, and the adrenaline taking its course in my blood set my feet soaring, till the same smile parted in a scream.

Having my head up in the clouds, my eyes never lowered to the ground. And as if acting as a reminder to be mindful of my path a think root caught one of my feet in its loop. And down I went, falling from my high to the damp forest floor.

I guess one does not become Superman after falling in love.

The small graze, oozing blood from my palm kept my steps slow and careful later on, but I couldn't hide away my smile.

The time lapse between the two worlds kept me away from concerned queries, and I entered the house without getting caught by any of the three who were still fast asleep.

And when I reached my room, I hastily entered the bath, and washed myself before changing into fresh clothes. The water remaining in my hair was still soaking the towel wrapped around it when I heard a knock.

I turned to the door, but did not immediately unlock it, and wondered who it was. The clock showed the time to be eleven minutes past three, and Margaret, who was always the first to rise, did so only around five, and even if it was John who was somehow up, he had rarely ever knocked, and most often yelled.

The knocking suddenly became urgent, but my gut told me not to near the door.

I was not exactly panicking, but neither was I calm.

I kept my silence, waiting for the person on the other side to speak when reaching the ends of their patience.

And the moment soon came.

"Open the door."

The voice was familiar, and an apathetic face came to my mind, but at the same instant it sounded unfamiliar with the hints of urgency that laced around the words.

"It is me Demeter, let me enter."

I gulped down, feeling strangely anxious, but moved to open the door for the goddess.

With a grimace she entered, looking around the room as if searching for what exactly I was busy with.

"I was pretending to be asleep thinking it was one of the housekeepers." I smiled and explained uncomfortable by how her eyes roamed.

The intent gaze then shifted to me. "Get ready."

My eyes might as well as bulged. "Already? Haven't we agreed that I will leave on Thursday?" Which was two days later.

"There's a change in plans, you have to leave now or the trip cannot be made." She bent down before my bed, and dragged out my packed bag.

But before she moved to hand it over to me, I asked. "Why did you knock, couldn't you come in without having me open the door for you?" I asked, intentionally sounding harsh.

Her hands dropped with a sigh, and held my bag in her left. "No god can enter your room using their powers."

My lips parted, but no words came out as I thought of what she said over and over again.

"I don't understand." I said a little later.

Her long, manicured nails dug into the strap. "Hades has set up a barrier around your room that does not allow any of the gods to enter by force."

"From when?" I asked taken aback to the point I unconsciously stepped back.

"Right after Zeus visited this house." Came the reply, but the swiftness to it heightened my sense of suspicion.

But I could not act on it on a hunch, and so decided to play a game. "How did you enter my room until now?"

"Your window was open." She did not explain further, and I assumed the restriction only worked when the room was completely closed of.

She did say that Hades had done so after Zeus' visit, and though indifferent to his brother he was never hostile without a reason, and held no hatred.

It made me feel that the restriction was a way to let me avoid him if I wanted, and the purpose to it it I felt rather than being a fail proof bunker seemed more like a warning.

"How did you know that I met Zeus?" I asked my second question, and again she did not fail to answer.

"When you came to Olympus, he was bragging of how the two of you befriended one another to some servant, and the word spread thereon."

"Okay." I nodded. "Then how did you know Hades cast this ward?"

"Your room resonates a particular field of energy, unique to my brother which is easily recognisable. Think of it as his mark if you may."

I noticed how she went back to referring to him as her brother unlike the last time.

And like I had thought, it really was cast as a warning.

"You might not understand the concept being a mortal."

I smiled, unbothered by the jibe. "I get it, but something doesn't make sense to me." I said nonchalantly. "You say that you learnt of Zeus's visit from rumours, and came to know that the restriction was by Hades when you tried to enter."

"But how exactly did you know when it was placed? Have you tried coming into my room before?" I voiced the irksome observation. "To be specific, before Zeus coming to my home?"

She remained silent for a moment and then laughed, but it could not be called a joyous mood. "And here I thought, you were a simple thing."

"I will take that as a compliment."

The door to my room was suddenly shut as she stood before it, and the meticulous work I had done to seem casual as I neared it amidst the conversation went to waste.

I had hoped the restriction worked both ways, that if I were to close the door from the outside she couldn't open the windows or the door by herself when trapped in. But the plan had failed.

So the only other way I could think of to get myself out of this situation was angering her.

"If you do not want me to be suspicious, then this is not the way."

It was highly unlikely that Hades hadn't noticed the goddess's presence like he had with Zeus. And since the criteria was, no entry to gods, mortals were free to pass.

Which meant she was hiding away in a mortal like shell, the same way Izumi has once done, and the fact that she had never once used her powers inside the room had me invest in the theory.

I was not entirely sure that Demeter had used the same method, but there was a similarity that made me hope.

When Izumi took on a form similar to a human to speak to me, Aphrodite had said that it was hard to suppress their innate strength, and so he couldn't keep up the form for a long period of time, and so the meeting had ended up being short.

And each time Demeter had sought me out, she hadn't stayed long, and chose to explain things to me in parts rather than in one go as if she never had the time to tell me the entire story.

"You really have to work on your persuading skills." I stated with the intention to annoy the frowning goddess.

I had to either make her hold the conversation long enough or cause a fluctuation in her form, which could be possibly achieved if she was angered or distracted from concentrating. And then hope for Hades to take notice.

I braced myself when her eyes shone in a menacing gleam, but it quickly disappeared when she slumped back onto the bean back placed to her side. "You are sly for a mortal. " Though mocking words, the tone she used was unfamiliar, almost soft.

Huh?

"I wanted to keep you in the dark, but it seems I have to tell you." She massaged her forehead. "Apollo is not who you think he is."

The turn of events had me looking at her like she was an alien.

"He has kept a watch on your family for a long time, and has prevented them from meeting my brother under any circumstances other than death, but he was careless in regards to you since for the past three generations, the powers your ancestors possessed, had weakened." She said, for once showing an expression other than contempt.

"And with the thinning bloodline, he had thought you wouldn't be able to help my brother since you can't enter the land where my brother's soul is hidden."

My feet was nervously tapping at the floor. "Even if that's true, you did not answer my question. "

"It is not as complicated as you think, I too like Apollo has looked over your bloodline, and I have been waiting for him to lower his guard to make my move. And ever since you returned from the Underworld after coming upon my brother's temple I have followed you." Her lips pressed together as if it was hard for her to utter the following words.

"I apologise for the inconvenience this may caused you, but in truth...." Her voice turned into a whisper. "I was desperate."

"Look, I understand your reason, but maybe you could tell Hades about this. He might just approve if you pressure him. You are after all, his sister." I said halfheartedly and played along still unwilling to believe her. But then I noticed her features twitch, the same way as back when she had suddenly asked for me to meet the Oracle.

"Being his sister, your wish wouldn't be just overlooked." I added, and the faltering expression became more apparent as she stood up shooting me an unnerving glare.

And my instincts proved to be right.

All of it was a lie, though her acting was praiseworthy, it was a shame that I had spent just enough time with Apollo to know he had never held a grudge, and only pursued trouble to kill time.

"He will listen to you." I omitted referring to him as her brother, having coming to know it was the trigger to the strange behaviour when I had purposefully used it a second time.

But my stomach dropped for it was no longer uneasiness that I felt around her, but fear.

"How about we talk to him about it today, and even if he does not agree I will do as you wish. Okay?" I tried to coax as she began to walk back and forth, the sound of her steps loud in an agitated rhythm.

Her trajectory interrupted my path to the door, and I couldn't mindlessly make a run for it, and I decided to wait out till she regained her composure.

But then her head snapped to my figure, and the smile her lips displayed tempted me to scream. And I only held back when hit by realisation that it would drag along Margaret and the rest.

"You." She pointed at me, her slim fingers trembling with excitement. "You love him don't you?"

I didn't reply, and barely stood my ground as she began to speak to herself in a language unknown to me.

She then laughed, and strided to the shelf behind the bean bag she had sat upon, but the distance was too short from the door for me to approach it first.

"There was no reason to please you in the first place." She held the aquamarine jem she had previously given me in her palm, and soundlessly cracked it into small framents.

I watched with horror as the pieces hit the floor, and the next second the lights in my room flickered before going out.

Plunged into darkness, my breath came out in pants as I whirled around with my hands outstretched hoping to come in contact with a familiar object.

"What is happening?" I asked knowing the answer wouldn't come when a colourful rift began to form in space. And it quickly expanded to over four times my size.

"Demter!" I called, with anger and despair when the void seemed to move closer, but the room was silent as if she had left.

Something small and black suddenly came into a view for a split second before its rippling outline before disappearing within.

And frozen from fear by the sudden movement, I had not realised it had been my bag.

I tried to step back, but before my sole could hit the floor a hand firmly plastered itself on my back, and pushed.

"No!" My body stumbled forward.

The gateway I believed, let me pass through without resistance, and similar to the experience of being thrown into the sea my limbs flailied around me to get back, but I was only being pulled further in.

My body twisted around to look back, and illuminated by the strange lights, I saw the goddess's face.

But something suddenly seemed different in her triumph smile as she launched forward, with her pale hand reaching out for me when holding panic in her viridescent eyes.

It made me wonder if my plan had finally worked, and that it was maybe an act to seem innocent if the god of the Underworld had indeed arrived, or perhaps the goddess was suffering from a split personality.

But regardless, it was too late.

The portal was now closed, and alone and afraid in a sea of nothing but darkness, I whispered a name as my eyes close shut.

"Hades." It was both a yearning and a prayer.