Hey! I'm Back!

I know it took me forever, but I had a few different crises on my hands. First the flash drive thing happened, and I tried whipping up a chapter for a random story but…nothing creative was coming to me. Then It hit me that my relationship with my boyfriend was going nowhere and I wasn't sure that I loved him anymore so… I am now BF-less. :( It's sad but shit happens and I'm over it. And now I have a potential guy that I REALLY like but he's stuck between wanting me AND his ex… I'm lost on what to do for that one.

ANYWAY! Enough of the emotional roller coaster that is my life…

You guys have been asking for months for an update, and I've finally gotten the insertion to try my hand again at whipping up a chapter or two. It's been a while since I read the books so I had to google half the shit I couldn't remember, haha, and go back and re-read my own story. I also re-read—aka skimmed—The Goddess Test books to refresh my memory. But that shit don't matter because IT'S HERE! I hope you all like it. I loved the books and I love writing for you, so I hope it turned out okay.

FYI: because it's been so long my writing style may be slightly different from that of the other two chapters.

Here We Go!

. . .

Kate

"How can we trust this…vision Diana is seeing. For all we know it is Cronus trying to fool us into going back there."

"I can't actually see Kate," my mother confessed bravely, not a waver of concern or worry on her face. "But I know my daughters presence. She is here with us." She looked serious and beautiful sotting at her thrown. I stood beside her, watching the chaos of argument unravel. My place at my own throw… It didn't feel right sitting there without Henry at my side.

Dylan snorted. "If she truly does have Persephone's gifts than you of all people should know that you cannot sense her there in any way. She is a phantom that has no essence."

I should have been insulted, but he was right. I was nothing in this form. In fact I wasn't sure I was even a soul in this state. That's something I'll have to ask my mom later on if i get the chance.

"That only proves my point, you imbecile." My mom's voice wrung with annoyance. I had never in the 20 years of my life had heard her speaking such a way. It was purely frightening.

Dylan cowered back into his seat, sneering at the Goddess of Nature the best he could, but her glare won over his.

"Diana would never lie to us, Dylan." Walter spoke with such ease it was unnerving. Wasn't he worried in the slightest?

Dylan clenched his fists in rage. He is, after all, the God of war. I bet it's pretty hard for him to sit still and debate. "Whatever. That's not important. What is important is stopping Calliope and her plans to free Cronus completely. What she has done is unforgivable. Regardless of her being my mother she cannot be forgiven—she's gone too far. We cannot afford to make enemies amongst the few members of the Council we have left."

"We cannot chance another assault on Cronus. He is not alone and he is very powerful." Irene's words rang true, but that didn't stop Walter's input.

"We will do nothing until we know for sure what Henry is doing." He looked on my mother who made a stern eye contact with him but said nothing. "If Kate really is here with us then she may be a link to Henry. But make no mistake, she could also be a link directly from Cronus. I cannot risk a rescue mission just yet, Diana. Understand that."

I had remained silent throughout the whole meeting because I was sure that they wouldn't be able to hear me like my mother had. But Walter—my supposed father— had just sentenced Henry to his death without batting an eyelash. That I couldn't stay silent for.

"You have got to be joking!" All heads shot up and eyes widened in surprise.

"Kate—" My mom tried to sooth my instantly but I wouldn't have it. She had no power over me in this form.

"Henry is your brother, your friend, your family! How could any of you not think twice about leaving him and his new-born son—my son—in Calliope's clutches? You are all powerful Gods and Goddesses but you tremble at the thought of going against a Titan." It became apparent half way through my speech that they really could hear me, seeing as though they all looked around confused, as if they had just heard a ghost. But I was on a roll and I wasn't stopping now.

"I understand that after living for as long as you all have that the thought of actually dying is terrifying. But…my sister did it. She willing gave up her life for the one she loved. And even though she left Henry she loved him like family. I don't know my sister well but if she loved Henry once then I know that she would be going after him, doing everything in her power to save him. Because no one—not you and certainly not Henry—deserve that fate." Not that I needed to, but I took a deep breath. "I'm not asking you to risk your lives."

"Wrong!" Thoe roared. "That is exactly what you are asking of us. To challenge a Titan means death. There's no avoiding that fate."

"I did it. Can't say I would ever in my life want to experience it again, but I'm still alive. For the most part."

"The only thing keeping you in this world is Henry's power," Xander so nicely pointed out.

"And he gave his everything to save me. If you are so determined to stay alive, then at least have the decency to fight for each other when lives are in parole."

Before another point could be made against me, my mother stood from her chair of branches, everything about her blazing with determination. "Kate is absolutely right. As the protectors of every living thing on Earth it is our duty to stand guard over it. With a Titan on the loose there's no telling what tragedy will befall the lands. We will not risk the lives of the humans on Earth for our own selfish desires."

To that they had nothing to say. They still looked pretty fluster by the fact that they were just communicating with the half dead Queen of the Underworld, but my mom's words baffled them further.

Walter called the meeting to a close and my mother urged me to follow her, seeing as though she couldn't drag me out of there herself.

"Don't think low of them, Kate. They don't only care about themselves like you presume. They fear for Henry's life as well as their own."

I looked down at my feet as we walked. "Yeah, but it seems the scale is tipping more toward their own safety than Henry and Milo's."

"That's not true, Kate. You mustn't believe that."

But it was hard not to. I knew she was much wiser than I ever will be, but I couldn't get past my own fears. I couldn't stand the thought of Milo in Calliope's arms. She had gotten to touch her once but I would never allow that again. And I know for a fact that neither would Henry.

We made it to the room where my body lay resting. My mother gazed longing over at the bed for a long minute and then said, "What's he like? Milo, I mean."

I looked at her, struck by both warmth and sorrow at hearing my son's name. I looked down at my hands and bit my lip, determined not to cry out in fear and frustration. Milo… I missed him so much.

"Kate?"

My mother's gentle voice soothed me so much that I let my ghostly hand hover near hers, letting her know that I was still there. "He's…amazing, Mom." A smile played at her lips, hearing the joy return to my voice. "He already looks so much like Henry, but he has my dark hair. I…I've only held him once for a few moments. And then Calliope took him out of my arms. I only got to see him briefly in his crib before…"

Before Calliope tried to kill me and almost succeeded.

My mother turned to me, and in that moment that's all that she was: my mom. She wasn't the Goddess of the Earth and Growth. We weren't standing here as immortals in Olympus. She was just my mother, the woman who raised me. And that's all that I needed. She reached her hand to where she thought my face would be and I met her half way, leaning my cheek into the warmth around her hand.

"Keep Milo and all that he is in you mind's eye. And Henry as well. Thinking about the two of them will make you strong, and it will help you through this, I promise."

I smiled, closing my eyes for a moment to picture Henry holding his son. "Thank you, Mom."

She smiled, too, and the world around us glowed a little brighter.

When she left to her chambers to rest, I paced around my half-dead body. I did it for hours, thinking and rethinking, pacing and literally retracing my own steps, trying to come up with some kind of plan. Needless to say that even after all of that I got nothing right away—nothing solid. Frustrated, I tried to slap my clenched fist into the poe that held the flowered canopy over my unconscious body. But, of course, it went right through it and I stumbled to the side due to the momentum in my swing. Who would have that I was such a klutz even as a ghost?

"Okay," I chanted for the tenth time. "I need to focus. If I can communicate with Henry like the others think I can, then I might as well try."

For a split second I thought that perhaps I should sit down so that I didn't fall over when I returned to my body. Too bad I don't know how to do that in this form.

Instead I stopped pacing a focused every bit of my concentration on Henry. Persephone was right about one thing: this vision business wasn't going to come naturally to me. I've been practicing my powers for the last 9 months and I had gotten the hang of it. Now, all i had to do was wait for that familiar rush and—

There!

I opened my eyes and saw that I was back in the Underworld, mine and Henry's domain. I was in a room I had come to memorize: it was the room Calliope kept me captive in during my pregnancy. And I wasn't alone in the room.

A small cry came from the corner of the room and my heart leapt to my throat. Milo, my baby.

I practically flew to his cradle anxious to see his adorable little face. Someone else beat me to the punch, much faster than I was. Someone with dark black hair and moonlight eyes. Henry. He reached Milo's bedside before me, therefore effectively cutting off my view of my son. But I didn't care anymore. All that mattered to me in that moment was that the two people I loved so much were okay. And that Henry was keeping his promise in taking care of his son.

"Hello there," Henry cooed down at Milo, and I had to stop myself from giggling. I had never heard Henry talk that way before, but it was clear he never intended to use that voice when anyone was around. Oh, he was never going to live this down, and I had an eternity to torture him with it.

He reached for the fussing infant and cradled him to his chest. My heart melted. It was…amazing. Not only was Henry holding our son but… The look of pure tenderness that I have only seen about him rarely when he looked at me. And I could only hope that he saw a little of me in our son. His love didn't only extend to me but to Milo as well, and that's all I could ask of him.

Henry began to sway his body back and forth, soft and slowly, trying to calm Milo's cries. Eventually it worked and Milo was silent again. But that didn't stop Henry's swaying. He gazed at Milo so lovingly I couldn't take my eyes off of them. They were a sight behold. So many emotions flooded through me—love, joy, happiness, even sadness and fear because I couldn't be there with them. But I wasn't giving up. I was going to get them back even if it killed me. Again.

When Henry spoke again, he wasn't cooing, and I a deep sadness in his voice.

"If only your mother could see how brave you are being." His smile faltered slightly. "She would be proud of you."

I smiled. He knew full well that I was alive—he made sure of that.

"I am so proud of you both," I whispered, thought I wasn't sure why I had. It wasn't as if he could hear me. The only reason the Council and my mother could hear me was because my spirit, soul—whatever—was there with them. Here, it's only my mind. From what I understand, anyway.

However, something surprising happened. Henry's head snapped up quickly, just as the Council members' had. He seemed to look around for the source of the voice he just heard—my voice.

Henry could hear me!

. . .

There isn't an much detailed descriptions as the books, but I'm doing my best here! I hope you liked it. I'll try getting another one up a hell-of-a-lot quicker than I did this one. Promise. :)

Thanks For Reading!

-Romni

((P.S. I realize that my nickname for my new Username went from 'Romi' to 'Romni'… Just roll with it!))