others you're not going?"
"Yes, please," Castalia replied and allowed her emotions to flood her face as relief swarmed her eyes and lines of her face. "Guess we have to change plans, but let the others remain in position. We have to secure the Underworld from the threats trying to invade."
"Understood," he replied and walked into a dark portal the next second.
"Threats?" Tristian and I asked in unison. Castalia sighed but gave me a long look before she did the unexpected.
She pulled me into a tight hug.
"I swear to God. I've always felt alone but I've never felt more helpless feeling you spiral down a depressive hole and being unable to do shit."
"What...?" I wanted to say more but the single word was the only thing that came out as I hugged her back.
We shared the tight embrace for a long moment before she pulled back to elaborate.
"After the bomb incident, I was knocked out for a while. When I woke up, shit was going on in the Underworld that needed my attention. Someone's been able to figure out a way to come and go, and during their brief stays, they've been manipulating the minds of the slaves in hell."
Tristian and I immediately exchanged a look before the single name came out of our mouths, "Wilfried."
Castalia looked dissatisfied with the name, but she sighed and moved out of our embrace to cross her arms over her chest.
"We had our hunches, but it doesn't make any sense. He shouldn't have the ability to control the slaves of hell. Anyone who isn't a demon servant approved by Lucifer, Hades, or myself can't enter, and Cerebrus is the ultimate guardian of the Underworld. If Wilfried is the one slipping into the Underworld, there has to be a hole somewhere that's making it so he doesn't arrive at the gates like every other soul."
"What if he slipped into a portal like I just did?" I inquired.
"It still would have brought you near the gates," Castalia replied.
"Where's Cerberus, then?" Tristian inquired. "He's not here now."
A stream of hot smoke answered us as Tristian and I looked back to see the massive three-headed beast looking down at us.
I slowly moved behind Castalia and Tristian ended up hiding behind me. Castalia looked over her shoulder, specifically looking at Tristian as she gave him a 'what the fuck' look of shame.
"Really? Why the hell are you hiding behind my sister?"
"Because I know she looks exactly like you, and chances are that three-headed beast isn't going to kill you or her, so that spares me," he concluded.
I smirked and shook my head.
"Tristian doesn't like big animals with multiple heads," I concluded. "It reminds him of a horror movie we used to watch as kids that made him pee the bed for weeks."
"Hey!" Tristian whined and hugged me. "Cass. Why do you have to disgrace me like that?" he whined.
"What? I'm merely answering my sister's inquiry as to why you're a scaredy-cat hiding behind me."
"My pride has been wounded," he concluded, but he still hid behind me.
Castalia began to snicker as she shook her head and moved to face us. "Ceru. Cereb. Cerberus. Can you guys shift into human form? Important stuff."
The beast roared in reply, the ground shaking from the vibration of the sound before his body was consumed in a black and blue glow that split into three and hovered behind Castalia.
I moved a step back as Tristian moved to stand next to me, his hand slipping into mine as if to make sure I didn't go anywhere.
When the glowing dimmed, three identical individuals emerged, leaving me and Tristian gawking as we took in the 6'3" muscled individuals standing behind Castalia with murderous expressions.
"Either we died," Tristian began, "or we really are seeing three dudes that look like they want to murder us for fun."
"First of all," the one to the far-left, who seemed the friendliest of the three from the way his gaze softened slightly, responded, "if it wasn't for your connection with your woman who so happens to be our woman's twin sister, you would be dead."
"Second of all, there are three of us," the second dude in the middle replied.
"And finally, you can make your way out cause I don't like you, which means you’re as good as dead," the final dude on the far right declared.
"Which brings you back to first of all," they ended off in unison.
That just left the two of us speechless before Castalia sighed and looked over her shoulder. "Are you