My eyes shot open and I gasped, pulling my hands away from Athena's forehead.

Beside me, Eloise and Raymond pressed Athena down like their lives depended on it. They both looked at me in anticipation.

"Redhead!" Raymond said. "You okay?"

A mild headache set in, making me rub my temples. "Ugh. . . H-How long did it take for me to wake up?"

Eloise raised a brow. "A minute or two barely passed. What were you expecting?"

"Um, nothing." I coughed. "I just thought it would take longer. . ."

Thank goodness it didn't.

Raymond slowly withdrew his hands from Athena. "So did it work? Can we let her go now?"

The moment he said those words, Athena opened her eyes. The green tint from Rhea's spell fading away as she blinked. I moved over to give her some space while Eloise also let go of her hold on Athena.

"What. . . happened?" she asked, looking around. "Where am I?"

I tilted my head. "Don't you. . . remember what happened?"

"Remember what—" she paused, her eyes widening. "I-I do. . . The spider and the—"

Raymond gazed at her strangely. "What spider?"

Eloise rose, picking up Argentum beside her. "Save your chat for later. We've got to help Alistair and Demetrius."

Nocking an arrow on her bow, she ran towards where Poseidon and Alistair were and shot the silver projectile to the former. Poseidon, still under Rhea's control, noticed her and used one of the many tentacles extending around him to swat Eloise's arrow away. Unfazed, she continued shooting arrows behind Poseidon while he engaged with Alistair in an all-out elemental attack.

Raymond helped me and Athena stand. As Athena picked up Aegis and held it on her side, Raymond jumped and Talaria's wings flapped. I, on the other hand, was weaponless.

Well, but not powerless anyways.

"Come on, girls." Raymond motioned us to follow him. "Let's help Eloise and Alistair out."

"Wait no!" I said. "I think the two of them can manage. Let's get to Zeus first since he's more powerful."

Just nearby where Poseidon was fighting against Eloise and Alistair, Demetrius was still surprisingly standing on his own, using his time powers to slow down Zeus's fast lightning.

While all the chaos ensued, Rhea was nowhere to be found.

Where did she go?

"No, you don't get it." Raymond shook his head. "Alistair. . . His life pretty much depends on his powers. In a big way."

"What do you mean?" Athena asked.

"I'm not supposed to tell this to anyone, but I have no choice." He looked at us back and forth. "I don't know how the heck Al thought of this weird analogy but— imagine a balloon full of air. We all know that it can't move around without the air, right?"

Athena pursed her lips. "You mean helium?"

"Shh! We know the gist, Athena!" I turned back to Raymond. "Please continue."

"Yeah, so the air is Alistair's fire power and the balloon is Alistair," he resumed. "Over time, the balloon loses some of the air inside it and while it's not much of a big deal for the meantime, the balloon will eventually deflate."

I raised a brow. "Right. What's that got to do with anything right now?"

Athena face-palmed. "Amelia, it's quite obvious. Vulcan will die if he loses the fire burning inside him. Literally."

"What? He will die?"

"Are you mad?" Raymond groaned. "Of course he won't die! But. . . uh, something else will happen. Anyway, you got the point right. We've got to stop Fishface before Alistair loses firepower."

If what he's saying is true, then. . .

"Fine. Poseidon goes first." I sighed, then gazed at my father as he leaped away from one of Zeus's lightning. "I just hope Demetrius can hold himself long enough until we get to Zeus."

The three of us quickly ran to Eloise and Alistair. As soon as we got there, Poseidon launched his tentacles in our direction, forcing us to separate. Raymond flew upward while Athena used her shield to block the two arms that were following us.

Like a snake towering its prey, the water appendages struck again. This time, I reached my hands out and a green dome surrounded me and Athena, protecting us from the tentacles.

Athena turned to me with a confused expression. "Since when did your barrier change color?"

"I. . . don't know," I said. "It just happened today."

They continued to hit the barrier but to no avail. Soon, more came our way, leaving Poseidon with a few to fend himself against Eloise, Raymond, and Alistair, who was beginning to move around sluggishly. As the tentacles banged at the shield, I winced with every impact.

"I don't know if I can hold this for much longer," I said. "Athena, we have to do something quick."

Athena darted her eyes around. "Just give me a minute. I'm thinking of a plan."

"W-We don't have a minute!"

Hurling a last fireball to Poseidon, Alistair fainted. Raymond landed beside him and began shaking him awake. Seeing this, Eloise let out a battle cry and uttered a bunch of foreign words. Argentum glowed like the crescent moon above us and three silver arrows appeared on the bow.

"Take this!" she shouted, launching the arrows.

As the arrows flew towards Poseidon, the three projectiles multiplied in number. By the time they reached him, tens of arrows were above him. The tentacles that were slamming on the barrier retreated and went to Poseidon to cover him from Eloise's arrows.

Raymond turned to us, his eyes full of worry. "He's down."

I opened up a portion of the green barrier and looked at Athena. "Athena, help him get Alistair in here."

Nodding, she ran out of the dome and helped Raymond pull Alistair up. They walked along as quickly as they could, passing by Poseidon and Eloise who were in a heated battle. Eventually, they got inside and I closed the barrier down.

Athena and Raymond gently put Alistair on the ground. The latter looked beaten up but he didn't have major injuries on him.

"What happened to him?" I asked. "Is he gonna be alright?"

Raymond nodded, his face grim. "Yeah, but he. . . when he wakes up, he won't be able to help us with the fight."

"It's something about the balloon thing, isn't it?" I asked.

He nodded again.

I took a deep breath. "Okay. We've got to think of how we can stop Poseidon without Alistair's help. And we have to think fast."

Athena snapped her fingers. "What if you use your barrier to isolate Poseidon?"

"What?"

She turned to her brother as he fought away Eloise's silver arrows with his water extensions. "Instead of using the dome to protect us from him, use it to imprison him so he couldn't hurt us."

"O-Okay, I'll try."

The green dome surrounding us dissipated, not an ounce of my energy going along with it, which felt weird. From the first time I ever knew I could make up barriers, I've always felt losing some of my strength and it left me a bit groggy every time. But now it didn't feel like that. Instead, it feels more. . . normal.

Eloise cut her gaze from her fight for a moment, her eyes narrowing at us. Poseidon took this chance and swung one of his tentacles at her. The arm snaked around her waist and pulled her forcefully to the ground. She lost grip of Argentum, and the tentacle started dragging her towards Poseidon.

"Eloise!" Raymond shouted, launching himself in the air.

Athena turned to me, her eyes determined. "Amelia, do it now!"

With a swift motion of my hands, a barrier surrounded Poseidon. The water tentacles that extended around Poseidon, including the one that grabbed Eloise, got sliced off by the dome. Poseidon paused, looking around it with a blank expression.

Raymond settled back down beside us. "It worked."

Poseidon stopped his gaze on me, his blue eyes now tainted with green. As I stared back at him, I searched his mind for any sign of himself but all I could hear was static noise.

His thoughts felt. . . empty, like a void. It must be because of the staff's spell.

"So what are we gonna do now that we got him?" Raymond asked. "You'll have to get to touch his head but then he'll attack us again if you get him out of your barrier."

"We'll have to somehow get to tackle him before he does so," Athena said.

Eloise walked at us with Argentum at hand. "I'll shoot him if he tries hurting any of us."

I looked at her incredulously. "Nope, we're not going to do that."

A scream of pain erupted from the distance, making us freeze. We all turned to Demetrius collapsing on his knees, his whole body convulsing abnormally before toppling down. Just a few feet in front of him stood Zeus, electricity dancing on his hands.

"Master Demetrius!"

Both Eloise and Raymond rushed over my father while I stood there, gaping while trying to maintain the barrier holding Poseidon.

No. It must've been a little shock. He can't be dead.

He can't be.

Zeus reached his hand out and a rod of lightning shot out of his fingers. It was about to get to the three of them when, out of nowhere, Athena blocked its path with Aegis. Electricity coursed through the bronze shield and to her body.

"Athena! No!"

She fell on the ground, shaking all over. Without a second thought, I ran to her side in panic. When I got to her, her body was still shaking uncontrollably.

I pulled her to my side. "Athena, a-are you okay?"

She didn't answer.

Looking up, Zeus slowly approached. Just several steps behind him was Poseidon, not a thing blocking his way.

"Redhead!" Raymond went over beside me. "Why the hell did you free him?"

My chin trembled. "I-I'm sorry! But Athena got hit and—"

Eloise stepped forward, her knuckles turning as white as her shining bow. "Stop it now, both of you. We still have company."

The moment the two brothers stopped on their paths, I stood from the ground, my hands clenched on my sides.

"Poseidon, Zeus! You're not being yourselves!" I shouted. "Snap out of Rhea's control. Please!"

I bit my lip, trying to choke down a sob.

You're hurting everyone. I wanted to tell them. Not just physically.

"That is so sweet of you, dear, but your friends can't hear you," Zeus said in a voice that wasn't his.

Rhea.

"As you can see, they're not themselves and you can't do anything about it." Poseidon tilted his head. "Unless. . . you give me what I want."

I growled. "If you want to negotiate, then don't be a coward and show yourself!"

Both Poseidon and Zeus opened their mouths and a creepy laugh sounded from them, sending a shiver down my spine.

"You don't have the upper hand, but I do," Rhea's voice said. "I've waited centuries for this moment, and I won't let a bunch of adolescents stand in my way."

Raising my arms, a green barrier appeared in front of us just as Zeus shot lightning in our direction. As the electricity traveled throughout the dome's surface, my body vibrated from the energy. Zeus continued to shoot lightning and with every hit, I felt a portion of my strength getting drained out of my system.

"What are we going to do now?" Raymond said.

I grimaced. "I. . . don't know. . ."

I heard someone groan behind me. We turned around to see Demetrius's head move.

Tossing her bow away, Eloise went to his side. "Master, save your strength."

My heart beat faster inside my chest. "Demetrius!"

He groaned again. "Amelia. . ."

Seeing him like this made me want to forget about holding the barrier to sit beside him and check if he was fine, but I knew I couldn't do that. I had to hold it or we'll all die.

"Deme— father, don't move," I said. "I'm right here. Don't worry."

He slowly reached his hand out to me. "A. . . melia. . . Necklace. . ."

His last word made me pause. "N-necklace? Do you mean my necklace?"

A small grunt came from him.

"What about it?" I asked softly.

Demetrius coughed. "Take it. . . off."

My eyebrows shot up. "What? Why?"

"Trust. . . me. . ."

Using one of my hands, I pulled out the necklace hiding under my shirt. I gave it one last glance before handing it to Raymond who then walked over to Demetrius and placed it gently on his palm.

Without a moment's hesitation, Demetrius slid it on the ground and crushed the pendant under his fist.