Aria's lungs burned as she sprinted through the twisting corridors.
The palace was alive with chaos. Screams echoed from every direction. The blue flames on the walls flickered and died, plunging sections into absolute darkness. Something roared in the distance—multiple somethings—and the sound made her blood freeze.
"The vault," she gasped, trying to remember Hades' directions. "Find the vault."
But every corridor looked the same. Every turn led to three more options. And the sounds of battle were getting closer.
She skidded around a corner and slammed directly into something solid.
Arms caught her before she could fall. Strong. Unfamiliar.
"Well, well." A voice like silk and poison. "What do we have here?"
Aria jerked back, and her heart stopped.
The man holding her was beautiful in a wrong way—too perfect, too symmetrical, like something carved from marble and given malicious life. His eyes were entirely gold, no whites, and his smile revealed teeth just slightly too sharp.
"The mortal vessel," he purred. "Running alone. How convenient."
"Let go of me." Aria tried to twist free, but his grip was iron.
"I don't think so." He pulled her closer, inhaling deeply. "You smell divine. Literally. The Heart's power is saturating every cell." His tongue—forked, she realized with horror—flicked across his lips. "Lord Azrael will pay handsomely for you."
"Who—"
"Doesn't matter." He started dragging her backward. "What matters is that you're worth more than this entire palace. The demon who brings you to him gets power beyond imagining."
Aria drove her elbow into his ribs.
He didn't even flinch.
"Feisty. I like that." His hand moved to her throat. "But unless you want me to snap this pretty neck before I deliver you, I suggest—"
A blade erupted through his chest.
The demon's gold eyes went wide. Black blood poured from his mouth.
"Suggest what?" a female voice asked coldly.
The blade twisted, and the demon crumbled to ash.
Behind him stood Nyx, her crimson skin splattered with more black blood, her bone armor cracked in places. She looked at Aria with something between disgust and resignation.
"You're supposed to be in the vault."
"I'm trying!" Aria's voice came out too high. "I don't know where it is!"
Nyx cursed in a language that made Aria's ears ring. "Of course he didn't show you. Probably assumed he'd have time." She grabbed Aria's wrist. "Come on. Before more of them find you."
"Wait—you're helping me?"
"Don't flatter yourself. Lord Hades gave an order. I follow orders." Nyx pulled her down a side corridor. "Even when they're stupid."
They ran together, Nyx's grip bruising. Behind them, the sounds of fighting intensified. Aria caught glimpses through doorways—demons tearing at each other, shadows with teeth, things that shouldn't exist clawing their way through walls.
"What's happening?" Aria gasped. "What are they?"
"Mercenaries. Bounty hunters. Every demon and creature that wants the Heart's power." Nyx yanked her around another corner. "The wards failing opened the floodgates. Now it's a free-for-all."
"The wards shouldn't have failed."
"No. They shouldn't have." Nyx's jaw clenched. "Which means someone sabotaged them. Someone on the council."
They burst through a door and into a massive chamber. The walls were lined with weapons—thousands of them, glowing with unnatural light. And in the center, a circular platform with symbols carved deep into the stone.
"The vault?" Aria asked.
"The armory. Vault's through there." Nyx pointed to a door on the far side. "But we've got company."
Shadows coalesced in front of the door. Three figures materialized—demons, each one bigger and more terrifying than the last. The one in front cracked its neck, grinning.
"The First General and the mortal," it rumbled. "This just keeps getting better."
Nyx pushed Aria behind her, drawing her spear. "Leave. This is your only warning."
"Or what? You'll kill us?" The demon laughed. "You're outnumbered. Outmatched. And honestly? We don't care about you. Just give us the girl, and we'll let you live."
"Not happening."
"Your loyalty is admirable." The demon's smile widened. "And stupid."
They attacked.
Nyx moved like liquid death. Her spear was a blur, cutting through the first demon before it could blink. But the other two flanked her, moving with coordinated precision.
One of them lunged for Aria.
She dove, rolling across the stone floor. Her hand closed around something—a dagger from one of the weapon racks. It burned her palm, but she held on.
The demon followed, claws extended.
Aria didn't think. Just reacted.
She drove the dagger upward with everything she had.
It sank into the demon's throat. The creature screamed—a sound that made her ears bleed—and exploded into ash.
Aria stared at her hands. At the dagger now pulsing with silver light.
"Move!" Nyx's shout snapped her back.
The second demon was coming. Nyx intercepted it, but the impact sent her crashing into a weapon rack. She didn't get up.
The demon turned to Aria, blood dripping from its mouth.
"Just you and me now, mortal."
Aria backed toward the vault door, the dagger trembling in her grip. "Stay back."
"Or what? You'll stab me with a pretty knife?" It stalked closer. "You got lucky with my friend. But I'm faster. Stronger. And I've been killing for a thousand years."
Her back hit the door.
The demon lunged.
And something inside Aria snapped.
Heat exploded from her chest—not painful, but powerful. Overwhelming. The Heart of Cerberus, dormant until now, suddenly roaring to life.
Silver light erupted from her body.
The demon screamed, thrown backward. It slammed into the wall hard enough to crack stone.
Aria looked down at her hands. They were glowing. Actually glowing with the same silver fire she'd seen on Hades' blade.
"What..." she whispered.
The demon struggled to its feet, eyes wide with fear now. "You're... you're awakening."
"What does that mean?"
"It means you're not just a vessel anymore." The demon started backing toward the door. "You're becoming something else. Something worse."
It ran.
Aria stood there, shaking, staring at her hands as the light slowly faded.
"Aria."
She spun. Nyx was pulling herself up, blood running from a cut on her forehead.
"How did you do that?" Nyx asked, her voice careful.
"I don't know. It just... happened."
Nyx studied her for a long moment. Then: "The Heart's not just bonded to you. It's changing you. Rewriting your mortal body into something that can contain its power." She limped closer. "That's never happened before. Every other vessel died when they tried to use it."
"So why am I not dead?"
"I don't know. But we need to get you to the vault before—"
An explosion rocked the armory. The main door blew inward, and through the smoke, a figure stepped through.
Not a demon. Something worse.
It looked almost human—tall, draped in robes that seemed woven from screams. Its face was hidden behind a mask of bone, but its eyes... its eyes burned with the same gold as the demon from before.
"Lord Azrael," Nyx breathed, and for the first time, Aria heard fear in her voice.
"First General." The figure's voice was layered—a thousand voices speaking as one. "Step aside. The vessel belongs to me."
"She belongs to Lord Hades."
"Hades is occupied." Azrael moved closer, and reality bent around him. "Fighting my forces. Protecting his precious realm. By the time he realizes what's happened, I'll be long gone. And so will she."
Nyx raised her spear. "I said no."
"Then die."
Azrael raised his hand, and darkness consumed everything.
Aria felt Nyx's body slam into hers, pushing her toward the vault door. "Get inside! Seal it! Don't open it for anyone except—"
Her words cut off in a scream.
"Nyx!" Aria tried to grab her, but the darkness was too thick, too solid.
"GO!"
Aria fumbled for the vault door, finding the handle. It burned cold under her palm, but she yanked it open and threw herself through.
The door slammed shut behind her.
She heard Nyx screaming. Heard Azrael laughing. Heard the sounds of something being torn apart.
Then silence.
Aria pressed her back against the door, breathing hard, tears streaming down her face.
The vault was small. Dark. Empty except for a single pedestal in the center with something glowing on top of it.
She approached slowly.
It was a mirror. But the reflection it showed wasn't her.
It was Hades and Cerberus—back to back, fighting against impossible odds. Blood—silver and black—covered them both. They were losing.
And they had no idea she wasn't safe.
"No," Aria whispered. "No, no, no."
She pressed her hand to the mirror's surface. "Hades. Cerberus. Can you hear me?"
The mirror rippled.
Then Hades' voice, faint and distant: "Aria? Where are you?"
"The vault. I'm in the vault. But Nyx—she's—" Her voice broke. "Azrael's here. He's coming for me."
"Stay there." Hades' voice was sharp with panic. "Don't open that door. Don't let anyone in."
"He killed Nyx!"
Silence. Then: "I'm coming. Hold on."
"You can't!" Aria could see him in the mirror now—turning, trying to fight his way back to her. But there were too many. "You'll die if you leave!"
"I don't care!"
"I do!" She slammed her fist against the mirror. "Cerberus—tell him. Tell him he can't—"
The beast's human voice came through, strained: "She's right. We're surrounded. If we break formation, we're dead."
"Then we die." Hades' tone left no room for argument. "I'm not losing her."
The vault door shuddered.
Someone was trying to break through.
Aria looked at the door, then back at the mirror. At Hades, who was about to abandon everything to save her. At Cerberus, who would follow him into certain death.
And she realized something.
She was the key. The Heart. The power everyone wanted.
She could end this.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Aria, no—" Hades' voice was sharp with understanding. "Don't you dare—"
She placed both hands on the mirror and closed her eyes.
The Heart of Cerberus pulsed in her chest, responding to her call.
Show me how to use you, she thought. Show me how to save them.
The power answered.
And it was hungry.