Persephone couldn't stop staring at the lamp in Kady's hands. Her gaze locked onto it as if the world around her no longer existed. Kady immediately lost consciousness and then her legs gave out as she collapsed.
Penny was at her side instantly, catching her before she hit the floor, while Julia and Marina stood frozen, watching as they had just succeeded in capturing Raynard.
Kai clicked his tongue.
"Oh come on," he said lightly, tilting his head. "Stop gawking like a fish."
Persephone's fingers twitched. "I mean," Kai continued, strolling closer, "it's not like he's dead or anything."
Her breath hitched at his audacity.
"He's simply undergoing the laws of conservation right now."
Kai crouched slightly, resting his elbows on his knees like he was explaining something to a bored classroom.
"Did you know," he said in a cheerful, conversational tone, "humans are genuinely impressive? The way they conceptualized energy of not being destroyed, not created, merely converted from one state to another." He gestured lazily toward the lamp. "Elegant, efficient and almost poetic wouldn't you agree?"
Persephone's eyes were wide and unfocused.
"Raynard isn't dead," Kai went on. "Not in the way you're thinking, anyway. His essence, consciousness and divinity are all neatly conserved."
He smiled faintly.
"Think of it less as an execution and more as… incarceration."
Her voice finally broke through, hoarse and shaking.
"Release him."
Kai blinked. Then laughed softly.
"Oh, I'd love to," he said. "Truly. But unfortunately, bail was denied."
He stood up again while going back and forth making the goddess even more angry.
"Let's see… failure to meet bond requirements, violation of divine conduct statutes, repeated offenses, clear intent to reoffend." He tapped his chin. "And of course, flight risk. Can't forget that."
Persephone's hands clenched tightly while looking at the boy.
"Also," Kai added pleasantly, "he skipped arraignment, ignored morality and showed a blatant disregard for jurisdictional authority." He looked at her. "Really terrible optics in court."
She surged forward and immediately stopped herself. Kai raised an eyebrow at the sudden restraint.
"…Wow," he said, genuinely impressed. "You actually stopped."
He clapped once. "I was fully expecting you to rush headfirst into the trap. You show remarkable restraint unlike your son of course."
Then, with a crooked grin,
"Two birds and one stone. Oh well, technically one motion and multiple outcomes."
He chuckled.
With a few gestures and a wave of his fingers, Julia, Kady, Penny, Tom and Marina vanished in a flash of displaced air.
Gone.
Kai straightened and turned back to Persephone.
'Now then,' he thought, 'What will you do?'
She looked up at him, fury and grief burning behind divine composure.
"I will not forgive you for this," she said quietly. "Nor will I forget."
Kai smirked, "Is that so?"
He spread his arms wide, as if welcoming that judgment itself.
"Then allow me to be perfectly clear."
His voice then dropped into something calm and controlled.
"You speak as though forgiveness or memory carries weight here. As though your resentment alters the outcome. But tell me, Persephone, when exactly did you mistake this for a negotiation?"
He took a step closer.
"You gods cling to authority as though it were immutable law. But authority is nothing more than consensus backed by force. And today, I held the force."
His eyes gleamed as he addressed the goddess infront of him.
"You might call my actions audacious because they violate your expectations. But audacity is merely the privilege of those who act while others hesitate."
Persephone stared at him, stunned, "How truly audacious of you boy," she said coldly.
Kai smiled wider.
"Thank you."
She then narrowed her eyes.
"Do you truly believe you can get away with this?"
"Oh yes," Kai replied immediately. "Not only that, I know you won't do anything about it."
He leaned in, his voice dangerously low.
"Let's remove the motherly façade for a moment, shall we?"
Her expression hardened at that.
"At least now your shame is off the table. Folded neatly away somewhere you don't have to acknowledge it. I've spared you the embarrassment of pretending any longer, besides there are no audience here."
"In fact, I did you a favor. He's alive. Contained. And no other god will ever use him to tarnish your image again."
Kai leaned forward till his nose touched the boundary and inches from her face.
"That," he whispered, "is why you played the doting mother now, isn't it?"
Her jaw tightened.
"Because if you truly cared," Kai continued calmly, "you wouldn't have abandoned him like absolute trash in the first place."
He straightened, gaze sharp and unforgiving.
"You don't protect what you love, Persephone, you protect what reflects well on you."
There was a moment of silence, then there was a chuckle.
Soft at first, amused even before it rapidly blossomed into a rich and satisfied laughter. Indulgent and almost pleasurable, like someone savoring a long-awaited truth.
Kai watched the goddess carefully.
'So I was right.'
She took a single step forward.
The moment her foot crossed the boundary, the pentagram carved into the floor vanished, erased as if it had never existed.
Kai didn't flinch nor did he look surprised or even move.
In fact, he closed his eyes and allowed himself a small, knowing smile.
"You really are a despicable existence," he said calmly.
Persephone raised an eyebrow, clearly entertained.
"And yet you aren't shocked," she observed. "Why?"
Kai opened his eyes.
"Oh, I already knew," he replied casually. "You never wanted Raynard free. If anything, you'd have done something similar to him yourself if I hadn't beaten you to it."
Her smile widened looking sharp and pleased.
'That's the real reason you stripped him of his divinity in the first place,' Kai thought . 'And why you handed it to Julia in the original timeline. Punishment without blood on your hands.'
He slid his hands into his pockets and tilted his head.
"So now what?" he asked lightly. "Are you going to smite me for taking away your son… and robbing you of the chance to be the one who punished him?"
Persephone stepped closer.
Too close infact.
She reached up, tracing a finger along his jaw, her touch light but heavy with intent.
"Smiting you would be far too much effort," she murmured. "You're immortal. And this magic around you…" Her eyes flickered with interest. "You're at least on the level of a demigod."
She leaned in slightly.
"And you're clever enough to have taken precautions against divinity trying to kill you."
Kai frowned just a little before letting out a quiet chuckle.
"Oh, you really do deserve to be the wife of the devil."
Persephone laughed softly.
She leaned in until their lips were almost touching, her breath warm against his skin.
"If I didn't already have a husband, my boy," she whispered, "I'd bed you for days. Just for making me feel this… tingling sensation in my pussy."
Kai exhaled, unimpressed.
"Yeah… I'll have to decline," he said. "I already have two women I'm trying to keep happy. Adding one more especially one married to the literal god of the Underworld isn't really my thing. No offense."
Persephone laughed again, delighted.
"What a pity," she mused. "Most men would jump at the chance to bed Hades' wife."
'Would they?' Kai thought.
The idea alone was laughable. Anyone stupid enough to attempt it would be rewarded with an eternity of torment so creatively horrific it would redefine suffering.
She stepped back, her expression turning cold.
"Keep him alive for now, boy," she said. "Do whatever you wish with him."
Then, a pressure slammed into him. An overwhelming, crushing force slammed down on Kai, like the weight of an entire world pressing against his body. His muscles bulged as he resisted, teeth clenched, sweat breaking instantly across his skin.
The floor beneath him cracked. Yet he did not kneel. Persephone's lips parted slowly.
"Truly fascinating," she purred.
And then she was gone. The instant her presence vanished, Kai collapsed onto his back, gasping, sweat rolling freely down his face.
He laughed breathlessly.
"…What a monster."
Slowly, he sat up, rubbing his face, 'She's far stronger than Raynard,' he thought. 'If I had tried that on her instead… I'd only have had a forty percent chance of success.'
He pushed himself to his feet.
"Well," he said aloud, straightening. "One god dealt with."
His gaze hardened, 'Time to move on to another. Or two."
His thoughts drifted briefly.
'I wonder how things are going in Fillory.'
A grin tugged at his lips.
"I hope Ember liked the surprise I left him."
Kai laughed once more and then blurred out of existence.
PATREON.COM/FREDOZY