The force of the portal pushed me out and into the open. This time, I arrived at a pristine hospital room. Along with some medical equipment, a single bed stood across the room with a petite lady lying on it. As I looked closer, I recognized her bright face from the photo that Demetrius showed me before I entered his mind.

It was my mother.

I strode to her side. She had her eyes close and her palms placed on top of her chest, peacefully asleep. Strands of auburn hair were strewn across her face. I tried moving those strands but my hand only passed through her head.

Right. I can't touch anything.

She looked older when I last saw her in high school a while ago, but her features looked the same nonetheless. She still looked like me.

I heard the door open behind me. I turned around and saw an older Uncle Ben and Demetrius enter, the latter carrying something tucked in a blanket.

My legs wobbled as I saw Ben's face. I can't believe it. He's okay. . .

Shaking my head, I snapped myself out of my reverie. No, this is just a memory. That's not him. . . Well, he's him, but 18 years younger.

Both of them walked towards the other side of the bed, looking at her silently. As I stared at their faces, I noticed they somehow looked like when Demetrius and his brother Elias were looking at their sick father, Gregory.

I took a step back, my stomach churning with dread.

Oh no. No. This can't be right. Is this where my mom. . . dies? Why would Demetrius show me this memory?

Turning back to my mother, my eyes squinted at her figure. And then I saw it.

She wasn't sleeping. The heart monitor beside her bed displayed some figures and a flat line, and her chest wasn't even rising at all. She was already dead.

The faint sound of crying sounded in my ears. Demetrius began cradling the thing he was holding, which I later realized was a baby.

"Shh. . . It's okay," Demetrius cooed to the child. "It's okay. Your mother is here. . ."

He tucked away some of the blanket covering the baby, revealing its head. With its chubby cheeks and closed eyes, it looked like one of the cutest babies I've ever seen.

Uncle Ben smiled at the baby, who was still crying. "So, what's her name?"

Demetrius glanced at Ben, then turned to Gabriela. "Before she. . . she was gone, Gabriela and I tried to look up a name for her. But, for some reason, we never agreed on any name at all." He chuckled, but his smile faded as soon as it came. "I. . . should've told her, Benjamin. I should've told her the risks. I-I should've told her everything."

His voice broke. Staring at Demetrius with sad eyes, Ben patted him on the back.

"Here. Let me hold her for you," Ben offered.

Sighing, Demetrius gently handed his baby to his friend. While Ben rocked the baby to sleep, Demetrius took a step close to Gabriela, staring back at her.

"I'm sorry, my love." He knelt down and placed his hands over hers. "I'm so sorry for keeping secrets from you all these years. I feared that you won't look at me the way you did if you knew. But I'll never know. . . you'll never know the truth and I—"

He looked up as if he heard something. He roamed his gaze around, his eyes darting, searching for something. A second later, he rose to his feet and took the baby from Ben.

"What happened?" Ben asked.

Demetrius headed for the door. "We have to leave. Now."

Although his face didn't show it, Ben obeyed, following him. "But what about Gabriela? W-We can't just leave her alone!"

He turned around, his eyes wide in panic. "I know, but the hospital staff will know what to do. Right now, we have to leave as fast as we can. She found us."

The scene shifted from the hospital to a dark alley. Demetrius, who carried the baby, and Ben stopped near a wall. The baby must have sensed something wrong because she started crying again.

"Shh. . . Calm down, little lotus." Demetrius paused. "Lotus. . . Hera. . . I shall call you Hera."

Ben ran a hand through his hair. "That's a great name, Dmitri, but I don't think this is a perfect time for that. We have to run away and hide you!"

Demetrius didn't look up at him, his gaze still at his baby. "Yes. That."

"So what are we going to do?" Ben paced in front of him, his hands fidgeting. "I can't believe, after all this time, she found you! A-Are you positive it was her?"

"Yes." He touched baby Hera's nose, and she let out a faint chuckle.

"Okay, okay. . . Great!" Ben raised his hands up. "Just g-great! If she's here then that means. . . she knows about your daughter! If she finds you, she'll kill you both!"

"That is why I will hide no longer," Demetrius said. "It is about time I did something about her."

Ben turned to him. "Have you lost your mind? You've done a great job hiding from her for years. Why stop now?"

"Because I don't want to make the same mistake over and over again, Benjamin." Demetrius sighed. "I will face her so Hera can have a normal life."

"But she'll hunt you down!" Ben reasoned. "Hera will be alone when you're gone, and she'll grow up without a mother and a father."

"That's why I'm counting on you to take care of her. I'll do whatever it takes to protect her." Demetrius handed the baby to him. "Hera's abilities. . . they're powerful and I feel it around us, around her. They must be kept a secret."

"Must be kept a secret from who?" a chilling voice asked.

The two of them turned behind them to see a woman standing at the side of the road, her cape billowing from the sudden breeze that came with her. She let down the hood hiding her face and. . .

There was no face.

I blinked my eyes a couple of times but I couldn't make up her face. Everything else about her was clear, but her face. . . it was, like, some sort of a hazy cloud covered it all up on purpose.

"Oh, Cronus, love, there you are!" the woman said. "I missed you so much! You made me worried sick when you were gone! Where were you?"

Demetrius remained still, gazing at her coldly. Ben stared at her with bulging eyes.

"Giving me the silent treatment, I see." She said, then noticed Ben holding the baby. "Oh! Is that your friend? And he has a baby! Can I see it?"

"I will not let you touch her," Demetrius said, then turned to Ben. "Go away as far as you can. Protect my daughter at all costs."

Ben shook his head. "N-No! I-I won't leave you alone with that psycho!"

"Please, you must go, Benjamin," Demetrius said firmly, then took something from his pocket and handed it to him. "Give this to her when the time is right."

For a split second, I saw something violet glint before Ben hid it inside his fist. He gave Demetrius one last look before running off with the baby, leaving him alone with the woman.

"Do you think that you can hide her from me easily?" The lady cackled, her voice tinged with evil. "You're just delaying the inevitable, Cronus. I will find her to the edge of the world!"

Demetrius flicked his wrists and golden circles appeared above his palms. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

"Don't make me laugh." I couldn't see her expression, but I thought she'd sneer. "You're not the only one who has acquired new powers over the years."

Dark blue electricity coursed over her arms and fingertips, potent energy buzzing through the air. I felt the hairs on my skin tingle.

"L-Lightning? But that is impossible." Demetrius gaped at her. "That's. . . Zeus's power."

The woman giggled hysterically. "And you will be the first to witness its potential!"

She reached out her hands and the electricity shot towards Demetrius.

And to me.

A rod of lightning struck me, making me fall to the ground. My whole body convulsed violently while white spots began to dance on my vision.

How is it that that lady shot me with lightning? She was just a memory!

As I tried to fight off the nausea taking over my system, I blinked and saw two golden eyes staring back above the sky.

A strong tremor passed over my body, jerking me awake. I gasped for air.

Where am I? Why am I on a bed? How did I get on a bed?

Demetrius rushed to my side, sighing in relief. "Thank goodness you're awake. Are you alright?"

"W-What. . . What happened?"

"You suddenly fainted yesterday after I felt you enter my mind," he said.

"Wait. . . I was unconscious for the whole day?!"

At least it wasn't for a week.

He nodded. "I got quite worried when you did. Thankfully, I caught you on time and brought you to your room."

I gripped the green sheets covering me tightly as I tried to keep myself calm.

"Would you like some water? Food?" he asked. "Anything?"

I shook my head. "No, I-I'm fine now. Thanks."

"Tell me, what did you see back there?"

The moment he asked that question, Demetrius's memories suddenly flooded my mind. An awful pain throbbed inside my skull, making me clutch my head.

I squeezed my eyes shut, grimacing. "Ugh. . . it hurts so bad. . ."

"What did you see?" he asked again. "Did you. . . find what you were looking for?"

My body shuddered as I opened my eyes. "I. . . Your memories showed me, all right. I-I saw everything, just like. . . you said."

"Really?" His eyes widened. "Did you see—"

"I saw you as a child." I swallowed. "You were wearing fancy medieval clothes and whatever and— you're 400 years old."

Demetrius smiled bitterly. "I'm a lot older than that."

"What do you mean?"

"That's a question for another time, Amelia," he said. "Did you see something else?"

I took a deep breath. "I. . . I saw you when you first met uncle Ben and mom, in Kingston Prep." Tears started to form in my eyes, blurring my vision. "I also. . . saw her in the hospital, and you and Ben left her."

Demetrius hung his head low. "Believe me, it was difficult for me when I did. I couldn't even witness her funeral."

We sat there in silence. As I l gazed at his hunched figure, he looked as if he had the world's worth of burden over his shoulders.

And then I realized.

That woman who faced him in the alley before I passed out. . . she called him Cronus. That's where he got his powers. That's what he meant when he spoke to his dead father about his ability to 'discern the future', and the thing he said about his past.

Then that means. . .

"The suffering, the loss. . ." My lip trembled. "You just didn't lose your parents and Gabriela, did you? You've been living for centuries. You lived a hundred lives. . ."

He sat on the edge of the bed, smiling sadly. "I did, and no one ever knew about it. Until now."

"But h-how is that even possible?" I asked. "How do you still remember that you were Cronus the Titan after all these years?"

Demetrius shrugged lightly. "I'm still looking for answers up to this day. But I know that it has something to do with you."

I pointed to myself. "Me?"

"I'm sorry. I meant Hera, your patron goddess," he said. "She and the Olympians did something that made all mythical beings vanish, including themselves. Whatever they did, it was powerful enough for me, a Titan, to be reduced into a mere otherworldly spirit."

My jaw went slack. "What? B-but then what happened to the Olympians? How about the other gods and monsters?"

"From what I deduced from my proteges' dreams, the Olympians became dream-like beings who passed on some of their powers to you," he said. "Other than them, they either disappeared completely or still roamed the earth as lost souls like me. I have already. . . crossed paths with some of my siblings during my travels to confirm this fact."

"Does one of them include that woman in the alley?"

He froze, but nodded a second later. "Yes. . . She wanted to take you because of your powers. She was one of the enemies that I've had over the years. Thankfully she's gone. For good."

"Yeah, I figured as much," I said, then squirmed on the bed, unsure of what else to say. "Um. . . Fath— I mean, Demetrius?"

He perked up. "Yes?"

"Can I go back to my friends?" I asked. "They're probably worried sick about me. I should also tell them that you're kinda not the bad guys before they plan on attacking you and the Rogues."

"Ah, yes. . . Your friends." He sighed, then rose up from the bed. "You're right. You probably should go."

I slid my legs down to the side, standing up. "T-Thank you."

Before I could even take a step forward to the door, Demetrius held me by my hands. "Amelia. I. . . Will you do me a favor and stay here for a while?"

My forehead creased. "What? Why?"

"Because I-I don't want you out of my sight again," he mumbled. "I've missed 18 years of your life, but now that you're back here with me, I'm—"

"—scared that you'll lose me, just like my mother," I said, finishing his sentence. "I don't have to read your mind to know."

His lips curled up. "So you'll really stay? Y-You don't have to be here for too long. All I ask is for a couple of days, then you can go."

I smiled. "Of course. If that'll make you happy, I'll do it."

"Thank you, Amelia." His smile turned wider, making him look younger than he was. "I promise I'll make it up to you from now on."

Letting go on one of my hands, he reached out to his pocket and pulled out a familiar violet necklace. With his rough fingers, he held the necklace's chain and slowly brought it near me.

He tilted his head. "May I?"

I nodded. Taking a step in front of me, he encircled the jewelry around my neck and locked it from behind. As he stepped back, he gave me the widest smile I've ever seen him do. The expression on his ageless face almost made me think that he never experienced any horror in his life.

I glanced down at the necklace, brushing my fingers onto its pendant. "You know, one of my friends, Athena, said this was a talisman. . . Is that true?"

"Yes, it is a talisman," he said. "I'm surprised that you know."

"Well, Artemis also kinda mentioned that it was on the way here." I shrugged. "So. . . What does it do?"

He darted his eyes around for a moment before winking at me. "It makes sure you're always safe, my little lotus."