palms.
'You'll see in a moment,' he yelled back, without turning to me.
'See what? Where's Hecate?'
'This was her idea! But she'll be punished worse than I will, so we agreed I'd take you alone.'
'Take me where?'
'The river Lethe.'
This was wrong. Every tense muscle in my body was screaming at me as I reached out desperately in my mind for Hades or Hecate, but nobody responded.
I'd spent so much of my time here trying to work out how to get my memories back, but not like this. I'd just got the gem from Cerberus, I'd just won the damned Hades Trials, I should be celebrating with Hades, not flying to the one place I wasn't supposed to go!
'Morpheus, I want to go back. I want to see Hades.' I tried to keep my voice level, but it came out strained.
'You've come too far, Persephone. You must see this through.'
'Why are you doing this? I want to talk to Hecate.'
'I told you, she’s holding back the others, this was her idea.'
'I don't believe you.' And I didn't. Hecate would not spring something like this on me. She loved Hades, and if Hades said I wasn't to get my memories back, then Hecate would support him.
We were swooping low through a gully, flying over the purple river, and a glimpse of sunshine yellow caught my eye in the distance. The river Lethe.
'You can't make me do this,' I said.
'I don't want to make you do anything. I'm trying to help you.' I thought about using my vines, but if he crashed the chariot we would both die, and I had no idea how to control it if I managed to disable him. It would be safer to get away once we were on the ground. I reached out desperately with my mind again for Hades or Hecate, but there was nothing.
As soon as the chariot touched down on the rocks on the bank of the yellow river, I launched my vines at Morpheus, but he spun to me, the air in front of him shimmering and bending and an image coming into view. My vines fell to the floor as I recognized my brother's face, a sleepy expression across it.
'Sam?' I realized I was looking at the Judgment Hall, but the crowds were gone, only my brother and Skop remaining. Skop was in naked gnome form, and he looked equally as out of it. 'What's happening?' I demanded. Hedone stepped into the image, a sad look on her face.
'This is a portal, like the flame dishes. One of my godly gifts,' said Morpheus. 'Hedone's gift is bewitching those around her with her irresistible charm. Men like your brother and Skop are particularly susceptible.' Anger surged through me, and my vines whipped up again.
'I thought you were my friends!'
'I'm sorry, Persy, but our cause is bigger than any of us individually. It has to be this way,' said Hedone, through the portal. She looked genuinely sad and I blinked at her.
'What cause? Why are you doing this?'
'The gods need to be taught a lesson. They need to know that they can't treat mortals like toys, wipe their memories, force them into action for their own entertainment.' Hedone's voice became hard as she spoke.
'What's that got to do with me? And where's Hecate?' Hedone pointed and the portal swung, showing Hecate's prostrate body on the marble.
'Hecate!' I yelled, and the portal swung back.
'She is only unconscious,' said Morpheus. 'At this stage we have no reason to kill her.' Fury was bubbling through me now, the remnants of Fonax's Underworld power surging through my veins.
'Kill her? I can't believe this! You were supposed to be my friends! Hecate's friends!' The betrayal stung to my core, and was making my eyes fill with tears, but I couldn't let them fall. I couldn't look weak. They had my real friends, and my brother.
'It wasn't supposed to play out like this,' Morpheus said. 'It was supposed to be simple, but so many things have gone wrong.' There was a bitter edge to his voice. 'Hedone implanted the memory of what you did in the humans so that they could scare you into getting your power back, but she lost control of one and he showed up with the phoenix at the ball. So, we changed tactics. But Hades got to you in Tartarus before Cronos could when we sent you there before.' I felt like ice was trickling down my spine, my head pounding with anger and shock.
'Why? Why are