Shattered Chains

The storm of her transformation had barely faded when Melissa leaned over Lucius, his heartbeat weak and faltering.

A faint, warm smile touched her lips, overshadowed by the darkness now dwelling within her.

She touched him gently, and beneath her hands his wounds closed in a dark, violet light, bones realigning, flesh knitting together, blood flowing fresh once more.

His breath steadied, deeper and stronger, until at last his gray-blue eyes opened.

For a moment he simply looked at her: the dark horns, the glowing runes, the shadows that danced around her form.

In disbelief, he lifted his hand, hesitating, as if afraid she might vanish at his touch. 

With trembling fingertips, he brushed her cheek.

“Melissa… why…?” he breathed at last, barely audible.

She pressed her hand against his chest.

“Because you mean more to me… than my freedom.”

At the edge of the podium, Hades watched, hands clasped loosely behind his back, eyes cold and calculating.

Barely had Lucius’ breath steadied when the ground quivered, a dull rumble echoing through the hall.

Melissa flinched: a tug in her chest, like an invisible hook sinking deep into her soul.

She staggered back and turned, behind her loomed the portal, a black maw open since Hades’ arrival, pulsing in the dark.

Now it responded to her.

A cold pull seized her, dragging at her clothes, her hair, at every thread of her existence.

The oath demanded its price.

“I… won’t allow this!” Lucius forced himself upright, swaying, every muscle trembling.

Only moments ago he had been close to death, and still he clung to her with all his strength.

He seized her hand and held tight but the current grew stronger, her hooves skidding across the stone as the portal dragged her away.

“That is the oath,” Hades observed calmly, as though remarking on a move in a game.

“The Underworld calls its new Lady. You belong there now, and from there you shall rule. So it was agreed. And once you are there… I will finally be free.”

For the first time, a flicker of emotion edged his voice.

Melissa tugged at Lucius’ hand, panic filling her eyes even as divine power swirled around her.

“Lucius!”

“Hold on to me!” he gasped, yanking her close as though sheer will might keep her.

But the pull was merciless, dragging at them both, even Melissa’s new powers useless.

Hades stepped closer, his gaze cold, absolute.

“This is the price of power. The dead suffer no half-measures.”

Behind Melissa, the black maw churned like a sea of night; mist coiled out, sorrounding her, winding around her legs and waist.

Lucius’ fingers nearly slipped from hers.

“I won’t let you go!” His voice broke, but he held on tighter, sinews standing out in his arms, his gaze desperate.

Melissa looked at him as defiance blazed in his eyes.

Tears streamed down her cheeks, yet she forced a pained smile.

“Lucius… it’s all right. You’re alive, that’s all that matters for me.”

But Lucius shook his head violently.

“A life without you is worth nothing!” he cried, his voice a shout against the roar of the portal.

“I told you once ’even if your home were the Underworld.’ Don’t you remember?”

Her eyes widened, her breath catching.

“You don’t mean…?”

He nodded.

“I’ll come with you!”

He spoke not as sacrifice, but as vow, a pledge stronger than any oath a god could demand.

The shadows dragged at their arms and legs, pulling them closer to the portal, ready to swallow them both if need be.

For a heartbeat, their fall together seemed inevitable.

But just as Lucius began to loosen his grip, ready to plunge into the darkness with her, a sharp voice cut through the hall:

“Hey, you creepy guy in black! Leave them alone!”

Every head snapped around.

Through a crack in the doorway a small figure squeezed, disheveled, battered, yet grinning from ear to ear.

It was Glizzy, clutching a vial that glittered dangerously.

Behind her, Liviana and Tairaku heaved the heavy gates wider, Findergwyn and Meiruna slipping in after them, breath still ragged from battle.

“Time for some fireworks!”

With a sweeping motion Glizzy hurled the flask at Hades, who looked on unimpressed, as if she were no more than a fly, and lazily raised his hand to swat it aside.

But the Threads of Fate sometimes weave along paths even a god cannot foresee.

The little goblin slipped mid-throw.

“Oops!”

The flask’s path skewed, arcing off-course… and struck not Hades, but the hovering book.

The vial shattered, liquid hissing into its binding.

The book quaked, its pages blazing with light; a shrill screech split the air, as though the artifact itself were in pain.

At last it burst with a deafening crack, a shockwave tearing through the hall.

The portal flickered, jerking violently, its form unraveling.

“What?” Hades’ voice sharpened; for the first time, true surprise flashed in his eyes.

The vortex spread wider, tugging at everything loose in the chamber.

Hades’ cloak whipped like a black wing, dust spiraled high, and those inside the hall clung desperately to pillars and ledges to keep from being torn away.

Glizzy slipped, already dragged toward the pull, but Findergwyn caught her ankle at the last instant, clinging with his free hand.

“Lucius!” Melissa gasped, half within the portal, half still here.

“I won’t let you go!” he cried, gripping harder.

Hope had kindled again.

Moments ago he had been ready to give everything up, but now, with the portal faltering, he felt there was still a chance to hold on to her.

Yet the gate still hungered, shadows coiling around Melissa’s arms, dragging her in, and Lucius could barely hold her back.

Then Melissa suddenly lifted her gaze.

Her eyes blazed, and for one heartbeat the world fell still.

“Do you trust me?” she asked calmly.

“What?” Lucius panted, strength nearly gone.

“Do you trust me!?” she called out again.

“Yes, I trust you! What are you...?”

“Just let me go!”

“What!?” His voice cracked.

“Just do it!”

Lucius’ fingers dug deeper into her skin.

He couldn’t.

He didn’t want to.

Every instinct in him screamed to keep holding on.

But when he met her eyes, he saw no fear there, only resolve, and trust.

Trust in herself, that she could do this, just as she had before.

One last look, one last spark in her eyes...

And Lucius’ fingers finally let go.

Her body sank into the portal’s darkness, only her forearms still protruding as shadows licked at her wrists.

But her hands were finally free, for the barest fraction of a second.

Exactly as she had wanted.

The air crackled, and between her fingers stretched two invisible cords: violet, thin as light, heavy as chains.

The Grip of Death, a power reserved only for the Ruler of the Underworld, and now she felt it pulsing within her.

The unseen chains lashed across the hall, racing for Hades.

He saw them coming, raised a brow, stepped back, but too late.

A jolt shook the chamber.

Hades’ cloak snapped like a whip, dust bursting in a ring at his heels as he scraped across the stone, dignity intact, yet visibly forced.

“You turn the Call against the Caller,” he murmured, almost admiring, yet still cold.

Only Melissa, bearing the weight of her newfound divinity, could make him falter.

A power he himself had given her.

Melissa flung her arms wide, the motion broad, like casting a net.

The chains pulled taut, binding Hades as if she had fastened herself to a pillar in the storm.

For a heartbeat she dangled in the void’s pull, tethered only by the god she had ensnared, using him like a rope wrapped around a rock.

The harder he resisted, the more solid her hold became, even as the portal clawed at her.

The force dragged Hades in a sweeping arc toward the portal’s rim.

Chains of violet light coiled tighter, and the god tensed, his will surging, ancient power so heavy the very walls trembled.

The braziers flared high, as if the Underworld itself resisted the pull.

“You think to cast me into my own realm?”

Thunder rolled in his voice, not shouted, but deep, resonant, as though he spoke to the bones of the earth.

The pull tore at him, and for a heartbeat it seemed he would break the chains.

Melissa braced, pouring every ounce of strength and resolve into her grip.

“Not your realm, Hades. Mine!”

Her aura flared, the oath, the new divinity, and his power shattered like a wave on a cliff.

He toppled backward, the portal seized him, yet he straightened again, like a king maintaining poise even in his fall.

“This is oath-breaking. A violation of the rules,” he declared, as if to show her the futility of it.

At last he loomed directly before her. 

She braced her hooves against his chest, chains still taut between them, and with a violent thrust she hurled herself back, wrenching free of the void just as the momentum dragged him down.

Her gaze blazed, a cold smile flickering across her lips as his face slid past hers.

“Who says I play by the rules?”

Hades pitched backward, a cold shudder rippling through the maw before it swallowed him.

No scream.

Only a single, startled word echoed from the dark.

“…How?”

The void spat her back in a violent backlash.

Lucius leapt forward, seized her arms, clung tight, and with a gasp dragged her over the edge.

Both tumbled to the ground, rolling until they came to rest.

The portal shuddered, as though it had devoured more than it could bear, and with a thunderous crash it imploded, darkness folding in upon itself.

Silence.

Then came hurried footsteps.

The others rushed forward, dust and splinters in their hair, faces streaked with sweat and battle.

“Melissa!” Liviana cried, her voice cracking with fear.

She was the first to fall to her knees beside them; Findergwyn, Tairaku, Glizzy and Meiruna crowded close behind.

“What happened to her? And who was that man in black?” Findergwyn demanded.

Lucius still held Melissa in his arms.

She breathed heavily, the shimmer in her eyes flickering like a dying flame.

“Melissa… the oath…” Lucius murmured, his voice breaking.

He felt the shadows still clutching her, cold fingers trying to drag her away.

His grip on her arms spasmed tighter.

“You broke it…” he forced out, panic raw in his tone.

“What happens now? Will the shadows tear you apart?”

The black threads pulled and tore, merciless, as if to drag her into the void that had just swallowed Hades.

Lucius’ heart raced, his hands digging into her as though brute force could hold her.

But then the shadows began to tear: first one, then another, then all, brittle as old sinew snapping apart.

Melissa gasped, tore free, and in an instant the pull was gone.

Everyone stared at her.

“But… why?” Lucius asked, disbelief in his trembling voice.

“You spoke the oath. It should have bound you… shouldn’t it?”

Melissa closed her eyes briefly, as though listening within herself.

Then she shook her head slowly, her voice low but clear:

“I didn’t break it. The oath was: ‘…as long as I reign there.’”

Lucius blinked, his brow furrowing.

“There?“

“Yes.”

Melissa rose slowly, resting a thoughtful hand against her chest.

“The Underworld. The realm of the dead in my world. I swore to fulfill my duties as warden of the dead as long as I reign there. But… I was never there, never set foot in the Underworld. As long as I remain in this world, the oath cannot bind me.”

Lucius frowned, confusion in his voice.

“But… why do you still feel so… godlike?”

Melissa met his gaze, steady.

“Because the power itself… it has already rooted within me. The oath was only the key. Whether the Underworld calls me or not... what has been unleashed cannot be taken back.”

Silence fell over the ruined temple, broken only by the cracking of stone and the faint trickle of dust.

Liviana drew a sharp breath.

“Then… you really are a goddess now?”

Melissa did not look away, just a faint twitch at her lips, then a quiet nod.

Findergwyn gave a dry laugh, lowering his bow.

“Oh, the irony. You, of all people, who despises them so much.”

“Woooow!” Glizzy bounced in delight.

“Can you conjure me a sack of gold now?”

Meiruna sighed, rubbing her temples.

“Glizzy… no.”

But Melissa smirked, until the moment was broken by a very audible rumble from her stomach.

She placed a hand over it; the sound was so loud even Lucius blinked, then relief softened his voice:

“I think… what we all need now is a proper meal and a few bottles of wine!”

Melissa’s eyes lit up, her mouth curling into a radiant grin as she pulled Lucius close.

“Ha! That’s my little wizard!”

Another rumble shook the cavern, and Tairaku added:

“Maybe we should get out of here before planning any celebrations?”

A second, louder crash tore through the walls, so fierce it split even the pillars of the round hall.

Dust billowed in clouds from the cracks, stone slabs smashing to the floor.

“Too late… the whole cave is coming down!” Liviana shouted, already reaching for Melissa.

But Melissa stood motionless in the center, as if the only fixed point in the quake.

The shimmer in her eyes flared again, brighter now, and her voice was calm, almost gentle:

“Then we leave.”

With a sweep of her hands, a circle of light and shadow wrapped around the group.

The runes on her horns glowed briefly in violet light, and the air swirled about them like a whirlwind of shadow.

The floor vanished, the world collapsed, and with a jolt, they stood upon the dusty crater above the temple, amid the exhausted Kirraka who sprang up in alarm.

Eucho was tending the wounded in the dust when the group suddenly appeared from nothing.

His eyes went wide.

“Kha’shara?... Dajan fal´el shava, Kha’shara!”

Some of the Kirraka fell at once to their knees, foreheads pressed to the ground, as though what they had witnessed was not magic, but a miracle.

Behind them rumbled the cavern’s final collapse, swallowing the temple entrance with it.

Lucius stared at Melissa, as if still unable to grasp what power she now possessed.

“Incredible…” he whispered, filled with awe, wonder, and a fear that this power might tear her from him one day.

Hearing him, she glanced down, uncharacteristically shy, almost embarrassed.

Glizzy gave a sharp whistle, throwing both hands in the air.

“A real goddess for a friend, how handy! But does that mean we have to build you altars now? Sacrifices? I’m a terrible temple servant, you know…”

Melissa’s expression hardened, cutting her off at once.

“No,” she said calmly. 

“I want no worship. And this power, I never wanted it either…”

Findergwyn raised a brow.

“But then what? You carry divine power now. It will change you, whether you wish it or not.”

Melissa nodded slowly, her eyes gleaming in the faint light as she studied her hands.

“Yes, it already has. But not as they intended. I’ve seen enough to know the Olympians don’t belong here…”

Lucius placed his hand on her shoulder, his gaze steady.

“You mean to drive the gods from this world?”

“Yes,” she answered without hesitation.

Tairaku crossed his arms.

“Sounds like quite a long list of enemies.”

A smile spread across Melissa’s face, not triumphant, but resolute.

“Then it’s time I start working through it.”

“Not one of them shall ever rule this world again. Not its people, and not its future.”

A distant rumble rolled beneath them, as if even the earth understood what had been spoken.

The temple was silent, the darkness banished, but the echo of her words lingered, like a promise of what was yet to come.

For outside, beyond these ruins, lay a world still beneath the shadow of foreign gods.

And Melissa knew:

The war had only just begun.