"I do but it's not my destiny to defeat Pandora. Sadly.""You're not the greatest?""Nope." He shrugged indifferently. "You are."He paled. He wasn't even an A-level awakener. "How so? I can't be the greatest."Ares wrote in mid air using light on his finger. "Maks. The Greatest. Anderson. Son of Andrew or Man. Whatever. It's you. He said....They gazed at him like he had just lost touch with reality. He hoped so too but the answer was clear. Maybe Ares was just playing with his mind."No, that's not possible.""I thought Ares was only trying to kill you because he disapproved of us." Harley said.He smiled sadly at her. "Me too, but like he said. Nothing personal_" He muffled when Harley cried holding on to him as tightly as possible. He couldn't even give her an assurance as much as he wanted to."I'm sorry, Jack." Darragh said sadly."It has to be this way." He said."You're insane!" Sam roared."No, I'm not, it's not really a coincidence either. I have to accept my fate. I have t
"I deserved it. There were already regrets.""Nat!" She pulled her away. Metallie jammed two scraps of metal on Twig hesitantly. They carried on with Nat crying and they were faced by Maks taking on a girl with blonde hair. An old friend and an old enemy."It's Piper." Maks said strained now. He was aggressive and restrained trying to decide whether to attack or not."Long have I waited for this moment." She approached them."We can take her.""No, that's Irma.""Maybe I will tell you what I was doing those two days before you sent me packing to the null void. I was preparing my other ghouls for the day that Pandora would rise again and be reborn into this world.""Why Irma?""I am a different kind of Banshee, I admire talent. I met Pascal Barnsley and took advantage of his prowess as a musician. Then I possessed him, I was very attached to his family. I tortured him for years and made Gabrielle believe that he couldn't he helped, no matter how hard she tried, he always doused himsel
"Maks, I leave two choices. You bow before me, serve me, rule by my side as a minor god. Or fall by my hand and suffer with your friends."She landed on the black and white checkered floor like a chessboard.His corneas were purple at her hypnotic voice. He didn't want Harley to die in vain. All the Awakeners fought for them. Of course he would make it count. But if he was a god, they could live too. She mentioned that. He couldn't defeat her because he wasn't strong enough.Maks made a motion to bow, Artemis was watching, she realised that he was preparing to lung, he lunged at her and she whacked him with her staff. She kneed him in the gut and tossed him over a bridge. "How predictable."She whacked Maks to the side. "I should have known you would reject me like this! I wanted nothing more to do with Long, she only used me as a tool to bring Ares to godhood."He stepped up and drew power from her. She grabbed his head tossing him down. Maks mustered more power and he grabbed h
They fought and a beast landed spitting fire over the assassins and tearing them apart. Metallie shucked a metal plate over its mouth and it inflated. Steaming up. Another came with water and Elektra conducted electricity through it. They stiffened shrieking and under the lights, she smiled stunning Maks. "Harley!" Maks said and his eyes paled when she flew towards the enemy camp terrified but desperate. Maks hurried after her."Wait!" He said flying with hawk wings. "Stop!"He caught her and she yelped. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?""I'm the reason why they attacked in the first place. I'm just trying to keep everyone safe."He softened. "We promised to protect you." "There's no point trying to." She said. "They were killed because of me.""What happened to us sticking together? That's all that counts isn't it?""Yes but they just killed a part of our army.""I'm not letting you go." He said. "We just need more time.""You have to, I can't let you sacrifice yourself f
Maks cried clutching her close. Ares stepped back. Elektra held Artemis's hand. A white dragon with a sea-blue fin-like crown around her face and white hair arrived. She morphed into a woman in a white toga and bare feet."Fei." Ares said to her and the woman drifted to Maks who glanced at her.All she saw was that little boy who waited all night hoping for his mother to come home. His inner child was blooming again."My dear boy, be positive.""She's dead. How can I be?""Yes but the world is safer now." She pointed at the blue sky and his friends all still standing."I suppose I made a mistake making a mortal a guardian to the gates of hell. But I do it to teach a certain stubborn young man a lesson."Ares's lips pursed. Two patches of rouge appeared on his face."There is no way, a mortal can handle such a responsibility. I admire her bravery.""Don't we all?""I have one wish. I could make you a god of wildlife. You can protect these creatures for me.""No, I can't be one after
They went home for the brief holiday and Harley made it clear that she was not happy after the war. If he needed to talk about it. He wasn't sure if he could speak to her deeply about how he hated to see other people suffer. "I want you to meet my mom." He said and Harley was not jumpy about it. She nodded even if that meant the world to him. She realised that most of their dates were in private places. She also saw that strawberry garden he made all season in Artemis's house. She was worried about that, she stepped back and Maks smirked. He wasn't worried that the house would be filthy. "Sure." She said. "I'd be delighted." She was sure that the words went over his head. They went home and Harley winced at a black cat rushing out to the cold. "That's East, our cat." He said. Harley paused at Doreen working on her computer. "Say hi to mom." She almost rolled her eyes but his tone was lighter. He was excited."Maks, I'm surprised, when did you get home?" She stepped down fr
Maks froze at the crowd watching him. What if one of these people saw him in public next week?Harley sat back at their table urging him to start. He could make eye contact with anyone. "It's just a song. She said. "It's basic but just picture everyone in their underwear.""Not a problem with that." He muttered to her.He gulped looking at the teleprompter. [ Please no ] "Come on!"He got a guitar, he actually had lessons from Irma. "Okay..."They laughed when he almost dropped it. He sang and a woman clutched her friend's hand. He had been receiving positive reactions but Harley was busy typing on her phone crossing her legs. He pulled her out and she cleared her throat as they got the spotlight. He pranced about whirling her to a chair. He was surprised when she dramatized the lyrics putting him in the spotlight. She was surprised how he sang really well and she circled his chair sensually. He could barely focus on singing.Harley looked shocked at him and so did he. She cle
Doreen called the police. Their bodies were missing. It just seemed like things would get better after her parents left the house and now they couldn't even rest in peace because some criminal had taken their bodies. She looked like she would break down in tears but she pursed her lips, white in the face while the Detective assured her of their involvement. "I'm sorry, Mrs Fletcher-Anderson, we're looking intensely, into this situation.""You're not alone, Mrs A, I was a friend of Emily's." Fred 'Alfonso' told her sympathetically, "Any friend of hers is a friend of mine." He turned serious. "There are tonnes of graves that were opened on different nights. Reports were scaling through the roof about bodies missing in 5 different cemeteries.""More cases. Who would do such a thing?" Doreen said."I don't know. My educated guess would be crackheads. They have some twisted kink to satisfy but we're done speculating. We'll get clues, Right Steve?"The detective nodded.Maks held Doreen