This is finally part 3 of the underground cut scenes. There was going to be a part 4 however when looking back at the file it was never completed. So this installment of cut scenes will end with this chapter. I have other scenes coming next month.
A blue ring of fire Appeared in front of the fireplace next to Poseidon. A tall muscular, well dressed man stepped through the flames. His dark, red tipped hair, ready to catch fire like Gemma’s did so often. The scowl across his face showed his displeasure with being summoned, until he saw her. A smile grew across his face as he laid eyes on his favorite niece. His hand was gripped tightly to a tall slender brunette, who’s smile grew when she saw her niece clinging tightly to their godson.
She ran to Gemma with a huge smile giving her a tight hug. Her dark waves bounced as she ran, exposing the red highlights in her hair. Flowers growing within her footsteps. Leaving her mark wherever she went. She squeezed Gemma so tight she could barely breathe. She was used to it though, this was how Persephone always hugged her. It was just the first time she had gotten one from her while she had legs. And the first time she had even seen her in three years.
“I’ve missed you so much. If only Theia could see you now, she would be gushing. You look just like her. I can’t believe your father hasn’t let us see you for three years. You must have been going mad being cooped up in that castle the whole time.” She looked over at Kelley and smiled. “He’s a good one, you lucked out sweetie.”
Nik gave her a little grin, enjoying watching how they gushed over her. “How’s my sister?”
“She would be better if she wasn’t dead, but she’s doing fine given the circumstances. We set her up with a good place, I see her at least once a week. She said you need to get married and have some merbabies already.”
Persephone walked over to Nik to give him a hug and continue catching up. Kelley and Gemma looked over at Poseidon and Hades, murmuring quietly to one another, occasionally glancing at Kelley.
“Would someone care to explain what in the oceans is going on?!” Gemma snapped.
Hades looked over at her, giving her a small grin. He walked to her, lifting her chin with his index finger. He looked into her eyes, reading her soul, the only one who could read every soul. He gave a small smirk then did the same to Kelley, his grin vanished as he peered into Kelley’s soul. He looked back at Poseidon and grinned.
“You’ve got yourself quite the dilemma, don’t you brother.”
“What will it take to fix this?”
“Ha, there’s no fixing it. The two of them are more powerful than we were when we defeated our father and Zeus. You just have to let the cards play out.”
“Mask it. It needs to be hidden until her 21st birthday.”
Hades turned, cocked his head as he glared at his brother.
“Oh really? You expect to keep their powers and rightful claim to the throne locked up until she’s 21? You’re kidding, right? That’s impossible.”
“Just the claim to the throne. She gets her powers back on her birthday.”
“And him?” Hades pointed at Kelley. “Kelley is the reason I’m here. He is now the rightful owner of that trident. The rightful king of the land, sea and the gods. You have no right to strip him of his powers or whatever you did to him. He should strip you of your powers for what you’ve done.”
“Hold on… what? I’m not the rightful anything… I’m just a-“
“Human? Really? Is that what everyone has told you?” He looked over at the confused look on Poseidon’s face, then turned to Nik who was shaking his head. “You know… we’ll just save that one for later… Persephone has a friend who will tell you all about it.”
She looked at Nik giving him a mischievous smirk. “I guarantee she will tell him more than he wants to know.”
“No. Not her.”
“You know as well as I do that she will find him eventually… he’s destined to meet her. He’s the one who brings her, her soulmate.”
“Nikoli, what’s she talking about?” Gemma growled.
“An old friend of mine… from when I was your age…”
“Don’t worry my sweet niece, she isn’t one of Kelley’s future conquests.”
“Conquests” her growl got deeper as her hair burst into flames.
“Darling, you’re not a conquest to him. You’re his other half.”
“Persephone! Stop telling them everything!” Poseidon snapped
“Because your way of keeping them in the dark is going so well for you.”
“Just mask what the trident did. Fjord and Delanson will sense it if we don’t mask it soon. They’re after Aquaria.”
Hades turned back to Poseidon, eyes filled with fire. “They come within even an inch of my favorite niece and I will slit their throats, sending them to the deepest darkest part of the underworld.”
“Let them come. They would make fantastic chew toys for the dogs.” Persephonie said
“Persephone… not now.”
“But they’re bored. They need something to play with.”
“Persephone…”
“Fine… we’ll continue this chat with Poseidon alone one day.”
“Please do kill them both, send them to the underworld and let them be toys for your dogs. They’re worst mermen around. Destroy them.” Gemma grumbled.
Hades smiled at Gemma’s comment. She was his favorite for many reasons, one of which, she was a lot like him and Poseidon. She was all for revenge and showing no mercy, but she was also reasonable like her mother.
“See, there is a reason you’re my favorite.” He kissed her head and looked over Kelley’s wrist. “I can’t mask this, not unless you unlock his powers. Locking his powers makes it impossible for me to mask this.”
“Fine I’ll release them.”
Poseidon pointed the trident at Kelley, releasing a golden beam of light, nearly knocking Kelley down. He tried to catch his breath as the wind was knocked out of him. Kelley looked down at his hand, the burn marks were glowing gold and the sparks in his hand were uncontrollable. He shook his hand and the sparks wouldn’t stop.
“Damn sparks won’t stop.”
Hades gave Kelley a confused look watching him try to stop the sparks.
“You need to release them.”
“Huh?”
“The sparks, you need to release them. They’ve been pent up for 18 years. You need to release them.”
“And how do I do that?”
“Well… the sparks are electricity, like lightning…” he looked over at Poseidon. “I bet he could control the bolt.”
“That thing has been missing for centuries.”
“Well… I found it about 18 years ago… it just appeared in my library.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me?!”
Hades shrugged, snapped his fingers and a massive glass lightning bolt appeared in his hand. He handed it to Kelley. Gemma’s eyes widened, she had only ever heard stories about it, and they never ended well. She placed her hand on top of his, absorbing the power the bolt put out.
“Kelley… maybe you shouldn’t…. I’ve never heard of anything good coming from that thing… Maybe just use the trident to get rid of them… I don’t trust that thing.”
He handed the bolt back to Hades.
“I’ll take the trident instead.”
“And if it doesn’t work?”
“Then I’ll learn to deal with them on my own. If Aquaria doesn’t trust it, then I don’t either. I trust her. She knows more about all this magic stuff than I do.”
“It could make you more powerful.”
“I don’t even want any of this. I just want her. So I won’t take the risk of something bad happening when I could have prevented it by just listening to her.”
Hades took the Bolt, making it disappear in a blue flame. He gave Poseidon a sly grin.
“He’s going to be a better King than you, or anyone else has. Alright, I’ll mask it, but not for you. I’m doing it to protect them.” He looked back at Gemma and Kelley. “If you two ever need anything, let me know. I’ll take care of it.”
“Thank you uncle Hades, but we won’t remember any of this soon. Father is wiping our memories again.”
He turned and glared at Poseidon, “again… how many times?”
“At least 20”
“Are you insane?! Did you forget what that will do to them?”
“They’re fine. They’re not having the side affects.”
“Its getting harder to keep the memories from coming back.” Persephone sauntered back to her husbands side.
“How did you know?”
“Nikoli told me. They’re becoming immune to it. If you keep this up, a certain memory you don’t even remember will come back and it will put both of their lives at risk again. And there will be no hiding this little secret plan of yours.”
“What in the oceans are you rambling about this time.” Poseidon growled.
Nik sat on the arm of the sofa Kelley and Gemma were sitting on. He placed his hand on Gemma’s shoulder, gripping tightly. She looked up at him, he was watching Persephone. The color had drained from his face, he looked as terrified as when he told her what happened to her mother. She placed her hand on his, trying to reassure him that she was fine.
Persephone walked up to Poseidon and whispered something in his ear. His eyes widened as she spoke.
“We had to wipe that one for you. If you keep this up, that one will come back and they won’t survive. Stop trying to hide everything from them. They need to know. Kelley especially needs to know what the next four years hold for him. Stop these games.”
“It’s the only way. You know the prophecy, you know there are two outcomes. This is the only way to keep them from going dark.”
“They’re old enough to know the truth.”
“No… they’re not.” Hades stepped in. He usually didn’t disagree with Persephone when it came to arguments with his brothers, but he saw something in Kelley’s eyes that she didn’t. He knew this was the only way.
“If they know… they are both in more danger… Delanson will be able to find them. You know as well as I do that the magical disturbances we’ve been feeling since this summer that it’s these two. Everything about them is a magical disturbance. The more they are together, the stronger they become. The stronger they become… the easier they are to find. If we want to protect them, we have to allow him to take this memory as well. We will have to do everything we can to contain that other memory.”
“Give it to Theia’s soul. She’ll protect it for all eternity.” Nik interjected.
“Fine.” She growled. “We’ll do this and protect them. But I swear if anything happens to them, you will deal with both of our wrath’s. Is that understood?”
“You don’t frighten me Persephone.”
“But I do.” Gemma stood up and pushed herself between Hades and Persephone. She was actually at eye level with him, but only because he was seated. He didn’t break eye contact with her, even when Kelley walked up beside her.
“I scare the immortality out of you, don’t I?!”
A smile grew across Hades smug face as Gemma’s highlights burst into flames. He loved watching people stand up to Poseidon, and loved it even more when they stuck fear into him. She drove a dagger into the chair directly next to Poseidon’s head.
“Don’t try to deny it. I see it in your eyes that you’re terrified of what I can do, what I can become. Everyone in here knows I am going to be more powerful than you two combined. What terrifies you even more, you know how fine of a line I ride between light and dark. You know how quickly I could go completely dark. And with how powerful I am, that scares you to your core.”
“Gem, stop. Even your uncle is saying that we need to forget for a little while longer. It’ll be fine. Everything will be fine.”
She looked up at Kelley and the flames vanished. Her face softened as she focused on his eyes.
“I want my powers back.”
“You will get them on your birthday.”
“You have no right to take them from me. You stole part of who I am! Do you understand how wrong that is?!”
“Damn it Poseidon! You know she’s right. You would have killed our parents if they did that to you.” Hades snapped
“It is for her protection.”
“It’s for your damn protection.”
“Give them back.” She shouted
“You cannot control them yet. You are not ready for them.”
“If I wasn’t physically ready for them, I wouldn’t have them in the first place.”
“Mentally Aquaria! You are not emotionally and mentally ready for what it means for you to have that kind of power. Just look at how you reacted when you found out.”
“How else am I supposed to react when I find out that you have stolen parts of my life?! The parts where I was happiest! Lock up our magic, especially Kelley’s. Hunted us down and ripped us apart for years. Kept us from knowing each other and being with our soulmate. Damn it father! Do you realize how much it hurts every time we find out? The amount of emotional turmoil you have forced us to suffer through for years! The reason I act this way is because I get compounded with years of emotions from moments missing in my memory, all thrown at me at once. You are the reason I act this way. The reason Kelley lost his composure earlier as well. You can’t keep doing this to us.”
“Aquaria. As much as I love seeing my brother in actual mortal terror, this needs to stop. I hate to admit this, but for once he’s right. You in particular can’t remember this. Kelley’s claim must be masked until the time is right. If we don’t do this quickly, they will find you both… and Kelley won’t survive what they would do to him… at least not yet.”
Poseidon could feel her glare burning deep within his head, he knew she was trying to read him, making sure that his intentions were for hers and Kelley’s best interest, not his. She shot a glare at hades, getting a read on him as well. He knew she was the only one to ever be able to read him. Something Poseidon could never do. She turned quick on her heel back into Kelley’s arms, burying her face into his chest.
“Fine.” She muttered. “But for one reason only. Because I just saw what both of your souls are telling me about this. And if I find out that either of you are doing this for your own personal gain, I will bring my full wrath on both of you. Do you understand?”
Hades gave her a graceful bow “You know I would never do such a thing to you, your majesty.”
Her glare fell hard on him. “That better not be sarcasm.”
He walked over to her, pulled her away from Kelley, giving her a tight hug. “I will never disrespect either of you. I’ve seen your future. I know what you two can and will do for this world. I promise to always give you our support.” He released his hug then looked over at Poseidon. “I need to talk to these two alone.”
“Excuse me?” Poseidon growled.
“Listen brother, there are certain things that even you don’t need to know. It will only take a few minutes.”
Poseidon let out a huff as he stood up taking himself and Nik out of the room. Once he was out of the room hades looked back at them and smiled. Then smiled at Persephone.
“Alright I don’t have much time. I’m going to help you two escape, especially now that Kelley has his full powers, you have a chance. I’m still going to mask your powers and claim so no one can find you, but technically Kelley is king now. This won’t keep them from finding you, but it will give you a couple of days. So get out of here and run as fast and far as you can, you need to learn how to control your powers before he locks them up again, otherwise when you both get them back at the same time, it could be catastrophic. Aquaria, teach him how to use them in the most basic ways. That trident is Kelley’s, so take it with you. Use it to help you. Kelley, while you’re gone on the ship, call for me anytime you need, I’ll always help in any way I can. I won’t lie and say I have nothing I want to gain from this. Aquaria read my soul and knows what I want, but she also knows it’s something Persephone and I have wanted for years, but could never have. I know you can’t help us now, but once you are both in control, I hope you can help us.”
“We will. I promise.” She gave him a smile as she grabbed his hands.
A ball of blue flames appeared in his hand. He threw it at Kelley’s feet, watching it engulf him in flames. Kelley felt no pain, the flames didn’t burn him at all, and quickly dissipated. He waved his hand at the door removing the shield. Poseidon and Nik ran into the room after feeling the shield come down. Hades snapped his fingers and Poseidon and Nik collapsed into a deep slumber.
“What did you do to them? Are they dead?” Aquaria shrieked.
“They’re fine. They are just asleep… visiting someone in the underworld for a couple of days. Now get on that horse out there and ride as fast and far as you can. You only have 2 days before they wake up.”
“Thank you uncle Hades.” She hugged him tight.
“Don’t thank him, thank your mother. This was her idea. She is going to have a long chat with them.” Persephone hugged her tight and handed her a bag.
“What’s this?”
“I told you, this was your mother’s plan. She had me bring you both some clothes and money to hide out somewhere.” She whispered directions on where to go into her ear.
“Thank you, so much.”
“Anything for you my dear. You know how much we love you.” She kissed her head and hurried her off.
“Gem, we need to go.”
Kelley took the bag from her pulling her out of the cabin. Trident still in hand, they strapped the bag to the horse and took off.
“Think they’ll get it under control in time?”
“I know they will… it’s just the question of how long she is going to keep these two.”
~~~~
Theia
Nik’s eyes began to flutter open, the taste of copper, cinnamon and citrus lingering on his tongue. He had heard about this taste combination before. It’s the flavor of the underworld. He jumped up, only to find Theia standing over him. A mischievous grin plastered on her face. She was in a human form, not her natural mermaid form. She had her face right in his. She ruffled his hair and giggled as she turned and sauntered towards Poseidon’s body. He looked around the dark, stone room. A few chairs and a crimson sofa. A small table with a pitcher and a few cups sat there. But nothing else. The ceiling of the room had a glow to it, giving enough light for them to see. Everything was ordained in silver, something that would make Poseidon cringe. Making Nik curious if this was really her.
“Theia? But how? Am I dead?”
“Sharks no! Don’t be such a guppy.” She looked down at Poseidon, he was still sound asleep. “Shall I wake him? Or would you prefer we talk for a few minutes before he wakes? You know he won’t let me out of his sight when I wake him.”
“What’s going on? Sharks! Kelley and Aquaria! They were with Hades! I have to get back there to protect them-”
“Calm down Niky. They’re fine. I asked Hades and Sephy to do this for me… for them. Follow me. It seems we need to speak before I wake my husband.”
“Theia, what’s going on?”
“I knew I wasn’t going to make it before she left.”
“HOW?”
“Pearl… she sent me a letter… Through Sephy… She let me know what she really is, and that you’ve known the whole time.” She glared at him, gave his arm a light shove before she sat down at a small table. She handed him a glass of a glowing blue liquid. “Drink this. It gets the flavor of underworld out of your mouth. As I was saying. There was no way I would survive to see her leave to live with Kelley and his family. Its why I spent a little time here with Hades and Persephone a few weeks before the accident. We devised a plan to help Kelley and Aquaria. Pearl saw a catastrophic accident if they got their full powers at the same time. Kelley and his sister would not survive it, leaving Aquaria even more vengeful towards Poseidon.”
“So your plan was to kill us?”
There it was, her laugh that he had missed so much over the past few months. There was no denying that this was his little sister.
“You’re just asleep. We are giving Kelley and Aquaria a couple of days for Kelley to adjust to his full powers and the trident claiming him. He needs to be able to control it before she gets hers or the burst they will create will destroy the cave they will be in. You two will be here for two days while they are getting his powers under control.”
“How do we know other things won’t happen?”
“Trust me, they will be fine. I have someone watching over them.”
“Who would you trust with that job?”
She gave him a sly smirk. “Astrid.”
“No!”
“She’s already where they are going. Hades took her there last night right before the burst went off. She’s very excited to see Aquaria again… and Kelley.”
“What do you mean? She’s never met Kelley.”
“Hmmm.” She smiled, “Do you know how Aquaria and Kelley woke up from their comas?”
“What do you mean? They just woke up when their bodies were ready.”
“That memory wipe really worked then. Well. What actually happened is they woke each other up. Kelley and Aquaria were brought to a ship and had to be physically inseparable for 10 days. She absorbed some of his strength. Giving her enough strength to stay awake. Once the 10 days were up everyone’s memories were wiped. Astrid was even there, as well as Atlas and Asteria. Kelley’s friend Gerard was there as well. He had a fun encounter with Astrid. Anyways. Hades filled her in on everything, she is just there to keep them on track.”
“Asteria would have been a better choice.”
“Asteria can’t keep Aquaria under control like Astrid can, and you know it.”
“Of course I know it. That girl is just like Aquaria in that way, but she’s reckless and doesn’t keep herself in check!”
“But she isn’t the one that needs to be in check, Aquaria and Kelley are. She knows her job and will do it.”
“Is angus with them?”
“Ha! No. There is no way I would allow angus to be there. That means Asher would show up. The last thing we need is for Asher to cause problems and take them off their path.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me all of this before you died?”
“Because you would have never agreed.”
“Yes I would have. I usually-“
Her glare reminded him he wasn’t fooling her. She knew him better than anyone. “okay… your right. I would have fought you on this. But I still think a heads up would have been nice.”
“I’m dead, I don’t play by his rules anymore. I have to play by Hades rules now. Thankfully we’ve always gotten along really well. And he loves Aquaria as if she was his own daughter.”
“So… how’s life been down here?”
“Actually not too bad. And no, this is not where I live. We are in a sort of limbo place. Because you are not a God, you can’t go to the actual underworld. I’m excited for when I can see Aquaria and Kelley again.”
“You know it will take them years to figure that part out.”
“I know.” She sighed, tracing the rim of her glass with her finger. “our parents say hi. They’re proud of you. But hope that one day you find someone to love, and love you back. They don’t care who it is, just someone who loves you as much as you love them.”
“I know… I just don’t have time to date… you know how busy he keeps me.”
“I know… but don’t let him completely dictate your life. Have friends. See someone. Have a life outside of work and the family.”
“Family is all I have left.”
“Then maybe, that’s your sign to get a life.”
“I will after she’s married. I have to make sure it happens. I can’t let my personal life get in the way of that.”
“If someone comes along… don’t hold back. I know you’ve never been in love before, but trust me when I tell you, it’s-”
“It’s what?”
She held up her hand and looked around. She jumped out of her chair and ran to Poseidon. She began shaking him vigorously.
“Don. Wake up honey. You need to wake up now. Please wake up.”
Nik ran to her side, “Theia, what’s going on?”
“We can only be here a short amount of time without the protection of an immortal god. Otherwise the demons will remove our souls.”
“What was the phrase you usually used to wake him?”
She bit her lip, giving him a nervous eye.
“I would really rather you not hear that phrase… ever.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Well… it works… but yeah… you might want to go to the other side of the room so you don’t accidentally hear it.”
“Your right. I need more friends.” Nik shouted as he walked to the opposite end of the large room. He looked over his shoulder to see Theia whispering something in Poseidon’s ear. Of all the things to wake him up, it had to be something to do with their bedroom games. Although it didn’t surprise him. There were countless dinners that he left because of a certain look Theia would give Poseidon, that told him everything he needed to know.
He glanced back over his shoulder right as Poseidon had woken up. He held Theia tight in his arms as tears streamed down his face. He refused to let go no matter what she said. Nik made his way back to them and tapped him on the shoulder.
“What is it now Nikoli?! Can’t you see I’m busy?”
“Listen to your wife for a minute, do what she says then you can hold onto her until we are sent back.”
He turned back to her. “We’re in limbo aren’t we?”
“Yes.”
“How long have I been asleep?”
“Roughly thirty minutes”
“Blasted beasts will be here any second! Why did you wait so long to wake me?”
“I wanted to spend a little time chatting with my brother alone. You’ll be in the underworld with me Decades before he will.”
“Yes, but I’m sure hades told you what happens in limbo if you don’t have an immortal god protecting you.”
“He did, but I knew if I woke you up, you would take care of us.”
“Yes, but”
“See! All is fine. Just banish the beasts and we can all chat for a couple of days.”
“Days” he growled. “We don’t have days. My brother is teaching our daughter and Kelley who knows what right now.”
“I’m not there with your daughter.”
They turned to see hades walking in through a ring of blue flames.
“Aquaria and Kelley are going to be fine. Theia planned this whole thing out. They need these two days to get his powers under his control. If he doesn’t then when he gets them back on her birthday, it will be catastrophic.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me that?”
“Would you have listened to any of us? Even your wife?”
“Of course I would.”
He looked around at everyone glaring at him, arms crossed.
“Alright, fine. I would not have. But you are putting them in danger.”
“Oh darling, they will be fine. Astrid is with them.”
“You sent Astrid? Great… Knowing her, she will convince them to elope, then everything will have been for nothing.”
“She wouldn’t do that. Hades already told her she is there to make sure they keep on task, and to keep them there for when you two wake up. They both need this, but Kelley especially needs the help. He grew up not knowing he had powers, he needs to know what to do with them.”
“Kelley isn’t like us. He may have been born with powers like we were, but his family didn’t know, so no one taught him how to handle them. Didn’t you see all that pent up magic coming from his hands? He wouldn’t have that problem if he had been using it all his life. But 18 years of it compounding on him, it’s going to be a powerful release.” Hades said
“Which is why Astrid is waiting for them at a safe place.”
“How safe is this place?”
“It’s protected by Persephone’s magic.”
“Is she worried they will destroy it?”
Hades shrugged, he knew his wife would rebuild whatever she made. It was an enchanted palace that only certain people could see. Protected by a grove of enchanted trees. She had them scattered all over the world, luckily this one was not too much farther into the woods from where the cabin was.