Blitzkrieg [Maci, Hades, Seph, Meli]

[Warren Peace]

Warren hugged his knees to his chest, wringing his hands in front of them.

“God, I… I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary from what she did. Besides, well… but it looked just like you. I don’t know much about shapeshifting or changing what you look like, but I didn’t notice anything different between your appearance and hers. Even the powers… you vanish in pink smoke, like how Macaria vanishes in black smoke, and you can call up plants from wherever you want. Everything was the same.”

He shivered, pursing his lips together. “I’ll try to remember… I probably forgot some things, though. I just… I don’t want to remember. Any of it. I’ve been trying to forget, but…” The pyro gulped. “It keeps coming back. I hate thinking about it.”

He averted his eyes, blinking. “She came in sort of out of the blue… I was at my own house, and she just showed up at my bedroom door. She knew about that other time we’d met in the park, and she didn’t get anything wrong about it… And she said that she’d found out that Macaria and I’d met, so she wanted to get to know me. I guess that part seemed a little weird. It just seemed really random, before I knew what was really happening.”

Warren took his arms from around his knees and set his hands in his lap, absentmindedly tugging at one of his gloves. “I felt uneasy, and it was late, so I asked her if we could talk later. She said no, and she complained a little that she didn’t have anywhere to go, and that she really didn’t want to see Hades, and she asked to spend the night… I guess I figured things out then.”

He sighed, staring miserably at the floor. “She also knew that I was crushing really badly on Maci. I mean… I tried to keep it to myself, but I don’t know if I was that obvious or not… But she backed me against the wall and said that I didn’t really stand a chance for her to like me, too. Just, I’m a mortal, and… I wouldn’t pick me… but she said that she could make me immortal if I wanted….”

Warren rubbed his eyes, tearing up a little. He kept one hand on his forehead, covering his eyes in case they betrayed him, and he hugged his opposite bicep with his other hand. “She was probably bluffing. I dunno. I was stupid. But she wanted me to sleep with her for it, and I just told her to leave again… And, um…” The pyro took his hand from his forehead and curled it into a fist, pressing it against his lips. His face flushed red.

“She… she pulled me back by my hair and started kissing me, and called up a few vines out of my floor… Um, they curled themselves around me and squeezed me… they ripped my clothes off, and I couldn’t really move. She said that Macaria would never want me, since I’m her leftovers, and just…” Warren sighed. “If she said anything else, I wasn’t really paying attention. She really hurt me, and I was trying so hard not to start crying in front of her. And I wouldn’t know if she did it right, either. I was a virgin before that, so…” He shrugged, sighing again. “My eyes were closed, and I was freaking out, anyway.”

The pyro slumped a little lower, folding his arms across his stomach. “That’s pretty much it.” he said resignedly.

Warren looked back up at Persephone. “I thought that it was a little strange how she knew that I liked Maci… Did you find out before this, too? You… I guess you didn’t when you walked in on us back there… But you don’t seem… uh… mad about it.” He pursed his lips together. “I mean… I guess I thought you would be, since I’m not a god or anything like that, or maybe Hades would’ve mentioned to you that we had a skirmish, but I… um…” he trailed off awkwardly, not really knowing how to phrase his question. Why don’t you mind that your daughter’s running around with a mortal? he thought to himself. Yeah, that’s eloquent.

[Persephone]

Persephone shook her head dejectedly and sighed. She couldn't pick out any clues from what he had described to her. The most she could gather was that, well, Alpha- this person could/had the ability to shapeshift and Beta- this person was extremely, extremely twisted. What motivation could they have had to rape him?! What were they gaining from this? Sure, her, Hades, Maci, they all were mad at each other in some way or another.....but that was the only prize to be won, and Seph just didn't see who would go to so much trouble just to get that reaction. Maybe there had been another, hidden reason?

She didn't know.

"I have no idea," Persephone admitted, her shoulders sagging as she ran a hand through her hair. She blinked, then asked again, questioningly, pleadingly, "You're sure there's nothing else? Anything at all could help."

The goddess sighed again, her hands folded in her lap. She glanced over to Warren.

"I didn't even know you knew Macaria until I walked in on you two," Persephone said, her voice sounding flat. It lightened considerably as she spoke again, "I don't mind you being mortal."

It was an honest answer. She continued,

"If Maci can work around it so easily, then so can I. She's very picky, you know....and besides, who am I to judge on couples?" She rolled her eyes. "Do you know how much trouble I've been through because of who I fell in love with? I'm hardly one to judge. I'm not hypocritical like that."

Persephone coughed, looking just a bit nervous. "Although when this whole thing blows over, you're gonna want to watch out for Hades. I don't think he made the connection, that you and Maci are a thing now, but when he does, he's gonna be mad." She winced, just a little. "He never likes any of her boyfriends, but the fact that you're a mortal is only gonna increase that hatred. So stay on your toes. He's not above killing people."

Muttering under her breath, she added, mostly to herself, "Although Maci'd probably kill him if he killed you."

[Warren Peace]

He shook his head, looking at her apologetically. “I’m sorry…” he said softly, hugging himself around the stomach a little tighter. “I’ve been trying so hard to forget what happened… I just don’t remember.”

The pyro’s expression softened a little, awe slowly creeping over his face. “I… but I…” he stammered, utterly amazed, his mouth hanging open as he silenced his voice. Persephone’s forgiveness, sympathy, and mercy nearly stunned him. A few minutes ago, he’d screamed at her and frightened her, wanting to char her skin with his fire and smile at her pain. He winced at the thought, his stomach churning as he realized that he’d wanted to kill her… He felt like a monster.

Persephone’s cautioning about Hades brought his focus back to the present, and he nodded. “I’ll watch out for myself.” he assured her quietly, fell silent for a moment, then sighed and began to speak again somewhat miserably.

“Just… thank you for giving me a break. You’ve no idea how much it means to me.” Warren sighed again, his face flushing, and he dropped his gaze from Persephone to stare dejectedly at the floor. “I really don’t deserve Maci. At least, I don’t think so. And you… you have every right to hate me. I-I’m so sorry for blowing up at you like that… I didn’t know that I was wrong about you.” He took his arms from his waist and wrung them nervously in his lap. “Your daughter’s so special. I try to tell her that all the time, but I don’t think she really understands… Just, thanks for not being angry with me, for everything that I’ve done… I’m sorry that everything’s going wrong. It’s my fault.”

The pyro looked as if he were about to cry for a brief second, and he hid his face in his hands.
“… I don’t know who she is anymore.” he said quietly, muffled a bit by his palms. “I don’t know if she’ll come back to hurt me again, and I don’t know her face, just so I can try to run if she comes back for me…” He gulped. “I’m so scared.” he added in a whisper.

[Persephone]

"It's alright," Persephone told him, offering a smile, "I understand completely. I've been raped too, years ago, although my situation was much different then yours is," She shuddered at the thought - being raped by a snake was a traumatic experience. As a result, Persephone was now deathly afraid of anything with scales, no legs, a hiss, and a slither, and she had a son. Yippee.

She was quiet as Warren spoke again, his face flushing, averting his gaze as he told her about his connection with Macaria. She had to admit that their relationship - what she had seen in their bedroom ((<---that sounds wrong XD)) to what Warren was telling her now - seemed like so much more then all of her past couplings had been. Maybe these two really had something together. On Warren's side of the relationship, it was obvious, at least.

"You're welcome," she answered him automatically, then spoke sincerely, "It's not your fault; nothing's your fault. Things just happen sometimes. And sometimes you can't control them." She rolled her eyes, "If you want to blame anyone, blame the Fates. Their idea, ya know, for everything." She shrugged. "It's nice having lots of different gods. There's someone to blame for everything that goes wrong."

Persephone fell silent again as Warren confided to her how scared he was, that he had no idea who his rapist truly was, why she had done this to him, if she'd come back, who to run from if she did...they had that much in common, at least. Seph hadn't known who her rapist had been until Zeus had told her smugly, several weeks later. She had felt that same feeling of terror and suspecting dread that he had.

"Don't worry," she said quietly, "We'll find out who did it, I promise. Maybe you'll remember something that'll help us find her....we know she's a shapeshifer, right? I mean, what else could she have used to turn into me?"

In the background, Persephone could still hear Hades and Macaria fighting. But apparently they had run out of curses in English to use because they were now screaming at each other in Ancient Greek.

"And we know that she's probably got something against Macaria, or you, or me....something against this general group of people." She waved her arm to indicate her, him, Hades, and Macaria, and whoever else was connected to her family.

Persephone could think of several people who disliked that group, but none of them were shapeshifters, excluding Pain and Panic, who were around all the time and were always busy....no time to rape people then.

She sighed, and shook her head.

"But we don't know anything else about her," sighed Persephone again. She paused, offering with a shrug, "We could always go talk to the Fates if you'd like. They're stubborn when it comes to giving information, but I'm an expert at charming them--"

Persephone's words cut off and she rolled her violet eyes back towards where she had left Hades and Maci. They were screaming curses at one another that couldn't even be translated into English.

"I should probably go stop them from murdering each other," Persephone mused, making a face. They wouldn't listen to her, they both still thought she was a rapist, but it couldn't hurt to try.

"When I seperate Hades from Maci or vice versa, you can have her," she told Warren, "I'll try to keep everyone out of the way."

Persephone turned to leave, then turned back and added, "And if you remember anything, be sure to let me know, okay?" Turning back in the direction of Maci's room, she raised her hand to teleport there...

[Warren Peace]

The pyro answered Persephone’s words with silence, giving a small nod every now and then to show that he was listening and that he accepted the suggestions she made. His throat felt constricted, the usual feeling as he neared crying, but he hadn’t lost his control over his emotions just yet. He was slowly getting better at holding his composure, recovering his mind.

It was a small comfort that Persephone was innocent, and also on his side. But now his rapist’s identity was a mystery, and it threatened a relapse on how far he’d come with its new paranoia.

He rubbed his eyes, took his hands away from his face, and glanced to the door, the two deities’ angry voices screaming from within. The language had changed from English, and it was absolute gibberish to his ears. Looking back to the floor, he sighed and felt a twang of sympathy for the third. She knew the humiliation and shame that plagued him. He thought back to the myths that had practically become a survival guide for Macaria’s world, vaguely recalling the goddess of spring’s own nightmares. Hell, she’d had it worse than him in some ways: hiding a pregnancy was pretty damn hard. He felt a bit embarrassed at how she seemed to effortlessly keep her emotions under control at the thought, while he was still a depressed and angsty mess. She did have more time to recover, though… Time healed all wounds, quoth a fortune cookie.

Warren nodded and stood up as she offered to pull Maci and Hades’ verbal war apart, feeling another pang of sympathy and guilt. They were furious at her and each other, and he couldn’t help but think that it was all his fault, no matter what Persephone or anyone else told him.

“’Kay.” he said as he remembered how to speak. “I’ll tell Maci that someone set us up. And then, just… go ask the Fates about it, try to figure this thing out…” He trailed off, staring at his shoes with an anxious face. “… I just wanna know who did it.” he finished and shrugged dismally. “…I feel like I’m slowly losing my mind… It haunts you, you know…?”

The pyro leaned against the wall and sighed quietly to himself, trying not to worry. Could he really go insane over something like this? The thought’s refusal to leave his mind was irritating enough, but the mortification and fear that accompanied the thought pressed on his heart painfully. The looming emotions swirled through his head in wispy forms, possessing him and keeping him from feeling the happiness that he questioned if he’d really ever felt at all. The depression was weighing on his brain, and despite Maci, Elisa, Will, and everyone else who stood by him, everything weak notion of himself was floating back from their graves, ghosts that whispered in his ears that he wasn’t worth anything at all.

“...He thrusts his fists against the posts but still insists he sees the ghosts…” Warren recited to himself, brushing over a dim memory in his mind.

[Persephone]

Persephone was quite close to snapping her fingers and poofing away when Warren spoke.

And his voice, the words he was saying made her freeze.

There was no way he could have heard that anywhere else unless he had read Stephen King's It.. It was her catchphrase, she repeated it over and over and over, and she was pretty sure Warren hadn't met her so where else would he had heard that?

But...still. Melinoe couldn't have....she was just a freaking child, she couldn't have.....couldn't have....

"Warren," said Persephone, feeling herself turn pale, almost white, "W-Warren....where did you hear that? I need you to tell me where you heard that."

Her voice was hovering on the edge of panic. Hades and Macaria had actually silenced for a few moments, and it added to the dramatic atmosphere.

Few moments passed and there was a crash in the room and then the two were yelling again.

Persephone struggled to keep some sort of calm. She took a step fowards to Warren and slowly she regained her regular color.

"Warren," she said again, poofing away and then reappearing in front of him, her eyes wide, "Where did you hear that?" she repeated.

It couldn't have been Melinoe, she was just a kid, it couldn't have been Melinoe, she was just a kid, it couldn't have been Melinoe, she was just...

[Warren Peace]

Ironically, the silence startled him. Macaria and Hades stopped their shouting for a moment, and his head shot up to stare at the goddess of spring. His eyes widened with confusion and dread, suddenly terrified for a reason he didn’t know. The color drained from his tanned complexion to mimic Persephone’s pale pink as an icy feeling settled in his stomach. Until the two other deities resumed their heated argument on the other side of the door, Warren heard only his heart thud in his ears, nervously accelerating.

“I don’t know… I-I just… why I said…” he stammered, still staring wide-eyed at Persephone.
Why had he even said that? It was hardly relevant, except for the fact that the memories of his rape haunted him like unremitting ghosts.

“I… I just said it.” he attempted to explain. “I just pulled it out of my head.” The pyro tried to swallow; his Adam’s apple sticking in his throat as he fretfully glanced around him, then focused back to Persephone. His brow furrowed with uneasiness and rigorous thought.

“It’s just a line from a book. I don’t know why it popped into my head, I just randomly said it… I-I don’t know why…”

His mind turned in circles as he tried to make sense of Persephone’s sudden panic, as well as his own. Did she read Stephen King? Did she know someone that did, perhaps someone who would have the motive to twist his soul until it broke from the strain, or to set Macaria’s family against themselves like wild dogs over a bone…?

Warren brushed over the dim memory that he had unknowingly extracted the tongue-twister from. Persephone had recited the same line to him once, hadn’t she? He could hear the phrase in his mind, said by her voice. The pyro frowned, struggling to remember. When had she said it? Their brief meeting in the park? No… it didn’t make any sense there… The only other time he’d met her was his rape, and it hadn’t actually been her to begin with…

Connecting that awful night with the phrase sparked a light on a faint event that he’d nearly forgotten.

“I… I think… I think the person who hurt me… She might have…”

It was clearer now. Warren pinched the bridge of his nose, frowning harder as he slowly uncovered the memory. It was a terrible one: he was lying on his side, huddled against the wall of his room as his naked frame shook. His mind had been freaking out and screaming, running in circles and sobbing wildly while his throbbing, beaten frame shrank pathetically from the other presence in his bedroom. Whoever had done it, she was finally finished, and he had been so badly shaken that he didn’t notice her departure. His panicking, frightened, and miserable mind had been spouting thoughts in a nearly incomprehensible torrent: he could hardly believe what had happened to him, he ached so badly, he felt like he was about to cry, he desperately didn’t want her to see him crying, he fearfully wondered if she would start back up again, he grieved over his stolen virginity, he worried about people finding out, he fretted hysterically over what everyone would think of him, he mentally sobbed over how awful he felt, weak, violated, filthy, miserable, helpless, desecrated, powerless, hurt, throbbing, aching, scared, paranoid, ashamed, heartbroken, frightened, shaken, guilty, dejected, fragile, sullied, ruined…

He’d barely noticed her recite a small mutter to herself, smug and satisfied with his pain and wretchedness. She’d articulated the same phrase from the ghostly novel.

“She did say it… She said the same thing. I’m sure of it, she said it when she was leaving. I remember.” Warren took his hand from his face and looked back to Persephone. “But… but I don’t understand… What does it mean? Like, I know that it’s from It and Stephen King, but…” he trailed off, uneasy. “Do you read Stephen King? Or does someone else around here? It doesn’t make any sense…”

[Persephone]

Persephone felt bad for startling Warren.

But as he spoke, or stammered, out an explanation, Persephone paled again, a sense of heavy dread settling over her.

In fact, this new information horrified and shocked her so badly that the goddess had turned a shade away from white and was having a hard time standing still on her feet. She did in fact stumble, falling back a little and pressing her palms for support against the cold, black walls. She leaned there, waiting for her legs to function again, her violet eyes wide, but her limbs did no such thing and, helpless, Persephone sunk to the floor, paling even more. She drew her knees to her chest and hugged them, as her mind raced.

Who else knew that phrase besides Melinoe? It was copyrighted, of course, to Stephen King, but Melinoe used it so much it might have well had been hers. The two-toned evil little child goddess had made it a habit to recite poetry and spooky lines she found in songs and poems and literature. Stephen King's legendary phrase from It was by far her favorite, and easily her most used.

And Warren's rapist had said it right before she had left him.

Everything clicked, except for one piece that lingered shyly behind, waiting to be connected with the others...Melinoe had done it. Melinoe had raped Warren, under the guise of Persephone herself. Framed her. Turned Maci and Hades against her, turned Maci and Hades against each other....had Persephone been expected to be angry at the two of them, for accusing her of something she knew she hadn't done? If so, then that part of Melinoe's little plan had failed.

The one little puzzle piece that had stayed back was a question. How had Melinoe changed her shape like that? She was not a shapeshifter, that much she knew about her daughter, although the younger goddess was mysterious in many ways. So how had she done it? It was a mystery, a puzzle that needed to be solved....hopefully once she confronted Melinoe about it, she'd comply.

And she would confront Melinoe about it. Persephone was positive that the culprit was her. It all made too much sense.

Oh, gods, poor Warren, Persephone thought, casting a glance at the teen in question, Bad enough he had been raped, now it turns out he was raped by an eight year old....ugh, how mortifying. She sighed for him.

"W-Warren," Persephone voiced aloud, looking up under a curtain of blonde, which she hastily shoved out of the way. Her voice had came out shakier then she had meant it to. Persephone was frightened. Who had known Melinoe had that much power, that much hate? Who knew she was really that evil and heartless?

"Warren, do you know who Melinoe is?" Persephone asked him quietly. There was always a chance that his subconscious had mixed up his memories, connecting a video to a different audio. If he had met Melinoe before, then maybe that had been when he had heard her say those words, and maybe it hadn't been his attacker...

Maybe, maybe, maybe, Persephone thought scornfully, Hades and Maci's arguing creating a muffled background for the current drama unfolding before her eyes, Maybe Melinoe did it, and maybe she didn't. Maybe Warren's mixing things up, maybe he isn't. Who the hell knows? All I know is that the little brat is psychopathic, and chances are that she did it after all...

"Please say you've met her before," Persephone asked him in desperation after a pause had come and passed, "Please say you've met her before and that's when you heard her say those words, please tell me that's it."

Persephone stood up finally, and took Warren's shoulders in her hands, supressing an urge to shake him to get the answer she desperately wanted.

"Because otherwise, things are very, very bad," she informed him monotonously, her tone reflecting the dread that she was feeling.

Her words were entirely the truth...

[Warren Peace]

He felt his heart thud in his throat, racing faster as he watched the goddess crumple to the floor in shock, looking as if she’d foreseen the end of the world. The phrase was significant. And from the way Persephone blanched as unknown thoughts ran through her mind, he knew that it bode nothing good. He felt his stomach churn, panic creeping up his spine. Oh, god… he thought, slowly losing control over his nerves. This is bad, this is really bad, I know this is going to be really, really bad…

The pyro anxiously played with one of his gloves as she said his name, and asked him about another. Melinoe. It rang a bell, definitely. Maci’s half-sister?

Warren couldn’t speak, almost frantically tugging at his glove with shaking hands. Persephone grabbed him by the shoulders, terrified violet orbs meeting confused and petrified espresso ones.

He remembered Macaria’s words on the subject of Melinoe, and he felt sick to his stomach as he ran them through his mind. Maci seemed to hate her illegitimate sister rancorously, and she’d said that the girl was a freak, even among the Underworld. She was twisted, a murderess with a child’s disguise and a devious tongue.

Did she…?

Warren shook his head, sickly pale and wide eyed with apprehensive terror. “N-no. Maci told me about her… b-but I’ve never met her.” He tried to swallow, his throat stuck. “Please… what does it mean? What’s happening to me?”

[Persephone]

His shaky words confirmed what Persephone had been afraid of and with a grimace, she released her hold on him and stepped back to lean against the wall, using it as a method of holding her up like she had before.

"S***," she muttered under her breath before lifting her hands to cover her face as her mind raced. How to tell him.....how to tell Warren that his rapist was a demented eight year old....how, how, how...?

"Well, uh," said Persephone, color coming back to her face as she raised her voice slightly to make herself heard. She twisted her hands together and bit her lower lip nervously. Then she continued:

"Warren, uh, there's a slight possibility that...." She stopped herself, her voice trailing off. Persephone winced then started over, "Warren, there's a really, really, really large possibility that....that Melinoe was the one who raped you."

Her words sounded crazy even to her ears. She was just a kid for Zeus' sake....a kid with so much unimaginable evil packed up inside her that it seemed she would burst.

"I know she's little," Persephone started to explain hastily, "And I'm not sure how she changed her shape, but I'm almost positive that she did it. That phrase you said, that's like...like her catchphrase. She says it all the time. And she had motives too. She hates me, she hates Macaria, she hates Hades. Melinoe's twisted, too, twisted enough to murder thousands of people without even a second glance or a strand of pity or guilt, twisted enough to rape an innocent kid," She looked at him pointedly.

"It sounds like I'm out of my mind but I really think she did it." Persephone stared at the floor, wincing.

[Warren Peace]

His expression was blank.

A part of his mind prayed that Persephone was insane, that he’d finally lost his mind, that this was all a terrible dream, or that he could just reject the horrific reality and substitute his own, desperately trying to find a situation in which he could choose to label the facts as lies.

“Oh, my god.” he whispered, stunned with fear. As crazy and as wrong as it sounded, it fit. The numb shock he felt slowly buckled under the weight of his mind, and the force of his confused emotions hit him like a tsunami. The small amount of composure he had cracked and shattered, and the pyro’s hands ignited from his terror. He stepped away from Persephone with tears beginning to stream out of his eyes, backing up and facing the opposite wall. He lowered his head and covered his face in his hands, steam hissing as his tears touched his burning fingers.

Warren felt like he’d been plunged into an icy river, shivering and freezing cold even while he was powered up. He was mortified beyond anything he’d ever felt before, wishing that he could disappear. Who cared if people told him it wasn’t his fault? Who cared if people said that he was just unlucky, in the wrong place at the wrong time? People said the same thing about his family, his poverty, his awful temper, hell, his entire life, and it never changed anything. They were all just telling him things he already knew. Yes, he was unlucky. No, it wasn’t his fault. But it didn’t make a single damn thing any better!

He felt himself redden and flush as he his face from the goddess, trying to keep his crying quiet. Warren felt as if he were experiencing his rape all over again, his healed body suddenly raw and throbbing though the pain was all in his head, immobile and faint with fright and shame.

The pyro bitterly wondered if there were any more blows he could receive in the situation. He was male and a rape victim, he was depressed beyond consolation, he simply couldn’t keep himself from sobbing like a girl when the subject was touched upon, and now he’d been ruined by his girlfriend’s very half-sister, a mere child who was half his age. He couldn’t fight off an eight-year-old. The pyro felt absolutely weak and filthy, frightened to the point of being sick to his stomach. It hardly mattered that he’d been hurt, weakened, and powerless- she’d also outsmarted him, and he felt stupid and incompetent for having been manipulated like a puppet.

Even worse, she wasn’t supposed to be able to do something like that. Melinoe hadn’t even gone through puberty, and she would be that way forever. And yet somehow, she’d done it easily. She had to be crazy to even want to do something like that, to have the demented sex drive or willpower and sadistic determination, whichever it was. Warren leaned against the wall for support as he slowly began to realize how perverse her mind was, so darkly evil that it made him throw up a little in his mouth. His knees gave out and he sank to the floor, his frame shaking harder as he insisted on fighting a losing battle to regain his composure.

Being raped by Persephone seemed almost pleasant compared to Melinoe. It badly unnerved him that he’d been that close to her, that she’d seen him naked and vulnerable and so afraid. She was treacherous and mental, corrupted with hate, and she possessed no remorse for her evil. She could have killed him just as well, and he kept feeling queasier as he tried to imagine how much blood she’d spilt. His father had torched four people alive because they’d stood in his way. Melinoe had torn thousands of souls from their bodies for her own amusement. Warren’s skin crawled as the phantom memories of the pain made him gasp and struggle to breathe, choking as he relived the sensation of those murdering, bloodstained hands on his bare body, touching him and violating him, forcing her lips on his, tugging on his hair, mercilessly pressing his body into hers while he screamed himself hoarse and strained every ounce of strength he had against his bonds…

Warren emitted a whimper and clutched his stomach, feeling trashy and contaminated. He sobbed for a few seconds, senselessly blubbering and trying to communicate something to Persephone. He eventually got his message out, and it was an urgent one. “P-pers-seph… oh, god, I-I… h-help, I’m-m gonna th-throw up, g-gonna b-… be s-sick…”

[Macaria]

Persephone wasn't quite sure what to do as she watched her daughter's boyfriend break in front of her. Her first thought was that she should go and hug him, but since he had been raped by her likeness, she doubted it would be any comfort. The goddess lingered back awkwardly, pretending she didn't notice his tears as he hid himself from her in embrarrasment.

Warren sank down and managed to choke out a desperate request to her. Persephone blinked, then rushed to some sort of action; she waved her hands and a basin appeared in her arms which she set down in front of Warren.

Biting her lip, Persephone looked down at Warren with her hands folded. "I'll be right back,"she told him quietly, before vanishing in a puff of pink smoke.

***

Many sarcastic comments, Greek and English curses, and lots of fire later, Macaria's room was practically trashed and the two divinities were still picking out reasons to scream at each other, and scream was exactly what they were doing.

I hate you, Macaria hissed in Greek for at least the fourteenth time and for at least the fourteenth time Hades sneered as a response, Gods, you're so original, because I haven't heard a single teenager who's used that phrase before.

You're obnoxious! she wailed, flaring up more and ducking from the fireball he hurled at her, hurling one back as the previously thrown one smashed against the wall.

Oh, because you're not! Hades hissed back, F****** seventeen year olds don't throw temper tantrums!

You're older then me and you're throwing one!

Before he could even respond, there was a poof of pink, and then Persephone appeared in the center of the room, directly between Hades and Maci, which probably wasn't the best of all ideas.

Both of them stopped and extinguished, settling for glaring at the goddess between them rather then each other.

"Oh, look, it's the traitor," said Hades bitterly, speaking in English again.

"Yippee," agreed Macaria flatly, "Did you come back to rape someone else?"

"Did you vanish to rape someone else?" added Hades sarcastically.

Persephone scowled at the both of them, choosing to ignore Hades and instead striding over to Macaria.

"You, come with me," she demanded Macaria, and as the younger divinity opened her mouth to protest, Persephone seized her by the arm and vanished with her.

Hades rolled his eyes and vanished too, retreating to his throne room to sulk.

***

"LET GO OF ME!" Macaria shrieked, and twisted out of Persephone's grip as soon as they had hit ground again.

"Macaria--" started Persephone, but Maci didn't let her finish.

"Shut up! Just shut up! I'm not speaking to you now, not ever. You might as well disown me because I refuse to acknowledge your existance for the rest of eternity and YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY SICK!" For whatever reason, the last line was shouted in Greek, and Persephone sighed.

Macaria then looked around her and noticed Warren in front of a basin, on the floor, like he had been crying.

A gasp escaped her lips, and instantly she was on her knees next to him, hugging him to her chest. Violet eyes traveled upwards and she stared venomously at Persephone.

"What did you do?" Macaria hissed, "What'd you do to him?!"

Persephone avoided Macaria's question purposely. "I'm leaving to go talk to Melinoe," she told both Maci and Warren, giving Warren a sympathetic smile, a small comfort to him, if any at all, "And Warren can explain why, if not, then I'll tell you later, but right now I need to go."

"But--" Maci started, but Persephone poofed away and Macaria bit her lip, silent again.

She hugged Warren tightly, her eyes falling back on him, completely confused.

"What....what happened?" Macaria whispered, "Did she try to hurt you again?" Her voice broke and she could feel tears springing up behind her eyes. The second time....oh gods, she had better not done anything else to him, she'd never forgive herself, she had promised to protect him, and then she had let Persephone hurt him AGAIN...

[Warren Peace]

His watering eyes shot open as the basin appeared, and he frantically snatched it up and held his hair back behind his head. He retched and emptied his stomach, grimacing at the taste. The pyro lit one shaking hand and held it to his lips, trying to let the fire burn the unclean feeling from his mouth. He set the basin back down and folded his arms around his stomach, his shot nerves making him ill and queasy with fear, even though he had nothing left to purge from himself.

His oblique and bloodshot eyes shot upward as Macaria’s voice gasped aloud, and he hiccuped a bit out of embarrassment. He must’ve looked like a wreck, and she had to know the truth, too. His cheeks burned and reddened as she caressed him, though she comforted him for the wrong reason. Warren sniffed and scrubbed at his eyes, another twang of fear sinking into his stomach as Persephone vanished, for he felt the sobs coming on harder as he tried to speak. He felt safe as Maci held him, but each antagonizing word she made to her mother strangled his heart with guilt. Melinoe had fooled them all, but hadn’t he been the one to accuse Persephone first? And if he’d been stronger, calmer, and hadn’t let his physical and mental pain show so much, perhaps everyone wouldn’t have been so unjustly furious with the goddess of spring…

Warren shook his head as Maci pleaded for answers, trying to communicate that her mother wasn’t at fault in the least. He let a few inarticulate sounds escape his lips as he fumbled for words, still too shocked and upset to speak. The pyro sniffed and shifted himself to face his girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her in a trembling hug. He squeezed his eyes shut and attempted to calm himself, giving an exasperated but distant sigh at his ever-present moodiness. Just gimme five more minutes… he thought to Macaria, even though she couldn’t see into his head. I’m sorry, I’m fine, Persephone’s fine, I’m just scared to death and I feel just awful… Just gimme a moment to mellow out…

“It’s okay, I-I’m okay, Per-s-sephone didn’t d-do anyth-thing… I’m j-jus-st freaking ou-out…” he managed to hoarsely stutter after a minute or so of holding her. Warren sniffed and let his forehead fall to her shoulder, trying to let the hysteria drain away. He silently concentrated on Maci’s gentle embrace, his shield from harm. If he kept her near, he felt considerably safer, and she doubly eased his rollercoaster, hair-trigger emotions.

He sighed and shivered, his breathing slowly evening out. “Please… you can relax over Persephone.” he said, still hoarse but fluently enough. Huh. Ironic. I’m telling her to relax.

Warren sat up straight and eased out of their embrace, moving his hands to her shoulders. “Maci… we got duped. All of us. Your mother was telling the truth back there; she didn’t rape me. She swore on the Styx right in front of me.”

His eyes had softened a bit, quietly comforted that he could erase his girlfriend’s anger and miserable embarrassment over the elder goddess. Hades was another matter, but at least they had the small joy of knowing Persephone was on their side. The pyro’s expression darkened as he thought back to clearing Macaria’s confusion. He dropped his gaze to the floor and let go of her shoulders, sniffing once and hugging his knees to his chest.

“B-but she was framed, and I fell for it, along with… everything else.” Warren swallowed and nervously ran a hand through his long hair, shivering again as the icy terror settled in his queasy stomach. “And when Persephone pulled me out here, she tried to help me figure out who it really was, and why they… they’d do something that terrible…” His voice constricted and he croaked the last few syllables out, starting to cry again, but he still had enough control over his speech for the moment. “…And we think that Melinoe did it.”

Warren sniffed and blinked a few tears out of his eyes, wiping them off his flushed cheeks. “I don’t know how she made herself look like Persephone, but… I just… Everything falls into place, and you said yourself that she was a freak, and your mother and I couldn’t think of anyone else who’d want to bring all of us so much hell.”

[Macaria]

Macaria held him further as he stammered through tears. She felt extremely guilty. She had been the one who had wanted to come back to the Underworld, hadn't she? She had been the one who couldn't resist the dark magnetism of her home, she had been the one who had insisted they come, had insisted he'd be safe, that her parents wouldn't be around, that they'd be safe from harm.

Whatever Persephone had done to Warren--

The thought abruptly died as Warren got ahold of himself and spoke clearly. Macaria blinked.

"Relax over her?" she repeated, and blinked again, "Why would I relax--" Again, the words were cut off and Macaria listened with her lips parted, on the verge of speaking all the while.

"D-duped?" she echoed, confused, and paused to let him finish. When he did, her eyes were wide.

"Oh, s***," Macaria whispered.

Melinoe?! Melinoe had done it?! Gods. Oh gods. She was out of her mind. Gods. Who would do such a thing?! Sh was EIGHT YEARS OLD. Eight year olds weren't supposed to rape people...but then again, Melinoe killed people and that was something eight year olds shouldn't do either.

Macaria trembled and looked torn between several emotions. Should she be happy that her mother was innocent? Disgusted that her eight year old sister had raped her boyfriend? Angry about it? Embarrassed, ashamed that she had been so quick to judge? Sad that she had nearly hurt her own mother over something she hadn't done?

Scared?

Macaria certainly felt that she was, just a little. Melinoe was a psychopathic, twisted little girl.

But who had known that she was that psychopathic, that twisted? Maci hadn't thought that Meli could have even thought of something as evil as rape, let alone actually do it.

Poor Warren.

Macaria suddenly felt near tears, but she shoved aside the sorrow and fear she felt, replacing it instead with anger. Her tears were vaporized by the blind rage that she felt, and with a growl Macaria had flared, still holding Warren in her arms. Thank the gods he was fire-proof.

"The little....that little....ugh!" Maci was at a loss for words, and she grit her fangs together, breaking her embrace with Warren to clench her now orange fists tightly, "I'll murder her, I swear I will. And I won't even feel guilty for it. She's not my godsdamned mother, for Zeus' sake, the little brat's been just asking to be smited or killed or hurt since the second she killed her first victim."

Melinoe. Of course it had been Melinoe. Melinoe, stupid little evil kid with a f****** deathwish, it seemed. Macaria bit her lip, the orange blaze fading into pink and blonde again.

She narrowed her eyes as she cooled off, strugging to maintain her mixed emotions. Absently, Macaria wondered what Hades would say. He had thought it was Persephone, too, he had revealed that much during their little one-on-one battle.

"I hate her," Macaria said, her voice steady no matter how close it came to wavering, "I always hated her, and now I just hate her more. I loath her. Depise her. A creature like that shouldn't be alive. She's killed so many, hurt so many, and now this.."

Her voice finally broke, and tears rolled down her cheeks. Melinoe had hurt Warren to get back at her, Persephone, and Hades. Macaria's family's fault.

Or, seeing as Maci had tormented the little girl as much as any of them, her fault. Gods. The thought made her cry more and she sobbed.

"I'm s-sorry, th-this is m-my fault, she shouldn't ha-have, she...yu shouldn't have been in-involved in this," she stammered through tears, trying to apologize for the mess she had placed him in, "She...she was targeting me, my family, sh-she should have left you alone, she sh-shouldn't h-have..." She finally forced herself to quiet and calm after a few moments of stammered apologies had passed.

"B-but how did she change her shape?" Macaria asked, sniffling. Warren didn't know, and neither did she or Persephone. "She's not a shapeshifter, she can't...she can't do that sort of thing, so how did she do it?"

She sighed, her shoulders sagging as she reached for Warren's hand, squeezing it tightly for comfort.

"I don't even have a single theory," she murmured, and wiped away fading tears with her other hand.

"She-she shouldn't have been able to d-do that," Maci added, her voice trembling again, "Gods, I'm so sorry..."

[Warren Peace]

He closed his lips, tears steadily trickling down his face as he tried to hold in the gentle sobs. It disturbed him on his ethical level, but he found himself wishing Melinoe would die along with Maci, as well as a small but twisted hope that he could be the one to kill her, knowing her immortality prevented that. For a moment, he felt as if he was seeing into his father’s mind, feeling the grudge he bore for Will’s father. The power in the feeling startled him, somehow deeper than his ordinary anger spells, even the excessively psychotic ones. This anger was controllable, very much so, but it longed to break free of his mind and throttle its target until she lay lifeless on the ground. And yet it was different from Baron’s, just as his son purposely separated himself from his father’s image: Warren had done nothing wrong.

The pyro had only succumbed to love, and he’d loved Maci from a careful distance until Melinoe had intervened. Melinoe’s real target had been Macaria, and he startled himself as he felt his temperature spike at the thought, heat seething in his arms. Warren nearly lost his hold on his sobs as realization for his confused emotions hit him. He’d felt only miserable and ashamed of himself when the deceptive goddess had tricked him with Persephone’s semblance, then lashed out with that pain in desperate rage only a little while ago. He’d figured the reason that Macaria’s parents had abused him so badly was to keep him away from their daughter. Though he’d listened to his closest friends and tried to take their words to his heart, he simply couldn’t find it in himself to believe that what happened wasn’t his fault. He believed himself to be the root of his problems- he’d been wrong in falling in love, since he, a weak and expendable mortal, simply wasn’t good enough for her. If he could’ve controlled his emotions better, he would’ve been safer, happier, just better off…

But Melinoe had done everything out of spite. It didn’t even matter if Warren had been the one to fall for her. She’d have gladly used whichever mortal it happened to be, roughly handling him as a puppet to his breaking point for the sadistic, yet childish purpose of sibling rivalry. The ghastly deity didn’t care about him at all. His agony was meant to torment Maci, to rip her family apart, to assail them all with malevolence, hatred, and hostility poured on so thick that no one could see the truth while they were smothered… It was seeing Maci suffer as well that enraged him.

Warren’s eyes jolted to the object of his deepest affections as she burst into tears. He held his breath in desperation to keep himself from crying any harder, wishing he didn’t feel so helpless because it was too late to stop any of Melinoe’s treachery. The tears flowed faster, and he sniffed as she blamed herself with stuttered sobs. The self-loathing and the shame that the goddess of ghosts had inflicted on him was still there- he hated that he’d broken so easily, that he was moody, and that he’d been shaken so terribly, he was unable to at least control the amount of despondency he showed. If only he’d been stronger, maybe he could’ve healed faster, cried less, ignored the pain. Perhaps he could have avoided getting hurt so much, or maybe even turned Melinone, an eight-year-old child, away. It made him feel sick with embarrassment that his rapist was only a kid; goddess or not, he felt completely pathetic that he hadn’t been able to at least convince her to leave, since he’d been too battered to fight. Outsmarted by a child half his age, and no matter how hard he tried to prevent it, Melinoe had succeeded in channeling his pain to Macaria.

Warren gasped a few times, his face contorted with the jumble of emotions pounding inside his head. He choked out a few sobs, then gave up and wept with her, done with trying to use whatever stoic façade he had left, if any at all. It was too much. His heart throbbed in his chest as he commiserated with her, silently disagreeing with her as she took the blame, sadly shaking his head as she questioned how the hell Melinoe had even done it. Maci claimed that she couldn’t shapeshift, and the fact that she’d somehow done it anyway frightened him. If she’d acquired the power from somewhere, could she get more? Who knew how much she had at her disposal? Who knew how many other tricks she was hiding?

“I’m s-sorry, too.” he croaked as she grasped his hand. Warren pulled her into a tight hug against his shaking frame, crying into her shoulder. “Maci… I-I wanna go h-home. Or… n-no, not-not home, j-just somewhere s-safe.” He sniffed and gave a shuddering whimper, feeling small, like a child again. “I d-don-don’t want to leave y-you. Please. J-just let me stay with you. I’m j-just scared, that’s-s’all”