Rhea gave Katia and Selene each a hug and said she would return before morning. When the girls looked at her questioningly, she told them, "I need to report all is almost ready to Ma'am."
The girls hugged her back and she was on her way. Arriving at the palace in the middle of the ocean, Rhea stood on the beach taking in the beauty of the structure. It was built exactly like a castle you would see in a fairytale. It had the towers and the widows walk along the top of the castle. Each way you turned there was nothing but the sea. The palace was a pristine white with powder blue shingles on the rooftops.
Rhea entered through the hidden entrance of the beach. She hurried because she did not want to be away for long. Katia was barely holding herself together. Ma'am said she could handle everything but Rhea was not sure. Selene would help her but both those girls are damaged and need healing. Coming out a door that led into a bedroom decorated with anything rose, she whispered, "Are you here?"
"I am." a woman answered.
With a sigh of relief, Rhea spoke quickly, "Uranus has everyone together that is a threat to him and he thinks the angels that have "fallen" from grace are stationed where he wants. Once he has defeated the last of the hostages, he will give the order for all earth realm beings to be slaughtered."
"The old fool, he will never learn." The woman cackled but once she stopped she asked, "The twins?"
"The mystic twins are fine and I swear they already know what is about to happen. Our twins are not doing well. Selene is the stronger but her strength is starting to drain with Uranus near so much. Katia has been through too much and with the mate bond damaged she is having a hard time keeping it together. Lucifer is most welcome as an unforeseen ally. He is helping the girls lending them his strength. I think he does love them both but he has a connection to Katia."
"The mate?" Ma'am questioned.
"He is calming down. I think his body is adjusting to the gods' blood traveling his veins and he is learning to control his emotions slowly." Rhea summarized quickly.
Laughing Ma'am uttered, "Men always learn when it is too late. Hopefully, Nathan will get it together before then."
"If he does not he will lose her to Lucifer" Rhea interjected.
"Uranus was so predictable with this whole thing and he thinks he is pulling the strings." Ma'am was proud of herself and how she had been able to remain anonymous. Manipulating Uranus had been easy and he thought he was the one in charge of the best plan to wipe out all of his enemies. He just had no idea that one enemy, he was unaware of, was pulling the strings. Soon my dear Uranus you will know betrayal and hurt like no other, she thought to herself.
"Um, Ma'am," Rhea said trying to see the boss lady and not being able to. She wanted to see what she looked like after all these years of hiding herself away. Rhea wanted to know if Ma'am was still as beautiful as the moon on a full moon night. Ma'am would not allow it though she had told Rhea her looks were a surprise to all and they would know why when the time came.
Ma'am stared at the beautiful woman with a head full of snakes for hair and said, "What is it, child?"
"We have a problem. Uranus fell for the pitting them all against one another to have a final winner to fight Uranus, however, he has decided that Zeus and his son will fight first."
"Idiot," Ma'am exclaimed. "He has no idea how to strategize, and utilize, those that would be on his side, properly to gain approval and loyalty."
Rhea nodded listening to Ma'am ramble on about men and idiots and how do you tell one from the other? "Well, be that as it may, we are going to have to make our mover sooner than we thought. We cannot let Nathan and Zeus kill one another."
Sighing Ma'am instructed, "Let him begin the fight and when the fight gets to be too much I will reveal myself." she said.
"Yes, ma'am," Rhea answered and was gone. Rhea knew not to question what ma'am would do and how she would arrive. She was happy that this mess was almost over and maybe everyone could have some peace and normalcy again. As she appeared once again outside the cave, Aza raised her head growling, "Deja vu much?"
"Why are you out here again? Don't you need to take care of your human?" Rhea snarled at the wolf.
Wagging her tail Aza said, "Nope. The humans said I farted too much and was stinky."
Rhea wrinkled her nose as a noxious odor drifted up into her nose. "Oh my goddess, fur ball, you are disgusting."
"What you fart roses?" Aza snickered and inhaled deeply.
"For your information, fur ball, I do not fart and for the love of Zeus give me some warning would you?" Rhea gasped.
"SBD are the best" Aza laughed loudly now and let another one loose. Even Aza had to admit that the last one was the worst yet. This was Aza's favorite game to play when there were so many humans around and Katia would let her out for a run. She liked to see who was blamed the most before they would turn on her and finally blame her.
"SBD?" Rhea scowled as she questioned. "Wtf, is that?"
Aza snarked out her answer as she rose to run, "Silent but deadly" and she took off but not before the smell of rotting flesh hit Rhea in the face and made her gag. That was horrible. What did that animal eat? Making her way back into the cave and listened as she moved quietly through the twists and turns of the cave to the area where all of them were held. Looking around she saw that most of the women were sleeping except for Talon and Amara. The two white wolves were speaking with one another. Trying to decide if they should tell Rhea they know what is happening and the outcome was still unpredictable.
Amara whispered, "If Uranus wins, there will be no earthly realm."
"Yes, but think about it, he cannot get every single living being. There are always survivors. It would be better than no survivors." Talon argued back.
"He will hunt survivors down until he takes out the last one. Then he will move on to any who betrayed him in the god realm." Amara insisted.
"Sister, since we cannot see the result in our visions yet, it does not mean the worst will happen. It just means that the outcome has not been decided by the fates." Talon reminded her sister.
"Kind of hard to have fate decide an outcome of something when fate and free will are being manipulated," Amara mumbled.
Talon smiled at her sister's grumbling knowing she was frustrated that the great mystic white wolves could do nothing but sit back and watch until their powers were needed. They knew they would be needed, it was one of the reasons they were here. Who they would have to use them against was the answer they did not have. Someone else was driving this scenario and the mystics, including the witches, had no idea who it was. They were sure Rhea knew but that was a whole different set of problems. If she changed her mind and decided she still wanted Cronos that would be another battle to fight. Why couldn't these gods and titans live in harmony? They were all powerful in their own right and should be happy with that.
The morning was approaching and others were starting to stir. Dalia was one of the first to awaken and announce, "I am hungry. I am sure everyone else is too. We have barely eaten since arriving on our little vacation."
"I hardly call this a vacation, sweetheart." Kelp greeted her with a morning kiss.
"It is all in how you look at it, hon. I am not doing anything but lazing waiting for the next chapter of this story. So it is a vacation for me." Dalia explained.
Uranus shimmered into view announcing, "It is time for our entertainment to begin."
"And the fantasy is ruined just like that," Dalia said snapping her fingers.
"Well, there goes breakfast. I don't know how we are supposed to fight each other if we have no strength." Evelynn growled with agitation.
"Grandfather, if you want them to give you a true battle then they must be at full strength mentally and physically. Let them have some food and take care of things that need taking care of if they should not survive. I am sure you will keep the fights going all day until there is a winner." Katia implored of her Uranus.
"If I didn't know better, I would think you were trying to keep these fights from happening. I know that is not your intention, Katia." Uranus goaded.
Sighing Katia stood at her full five feet and said through clenched teeth, "I was trying to give you the show you want. Do as you please." Clapping her hands, Katia declared, "Let the battles of the fittest begin!"
Nathan noticed the glance of regret she gave him and Zeus. However, something caught her attention, off to the left, and she visibly relaxed. The exhale of relief was so subtle Nathan doubted anyone else noticed. He did though, he was still connected and intuned to her now that no one was holding the block in place. He could feel the turmoil, fear, and confusion, his mate was trying to hide from everyone. He saw the parts that were caused by him.
Nathan swore to himself if they survived whatever this was, he would make sure she knew how much he regretted what he had done to her. As of this moment, he decided he would antagonize her no more.
He sent her a message through their link, "I am sorry, my little mate."