Heir of the Forgotten

6

Lio

---

I knew something was wrong the moment I stepped into the training chamber and saw Hades.

He never came down here.

He watched from balconies, offered cryptic one-liners in the halls, acted like a man who ran empires with his fingertips. But today, he was waiting. Cloaked in darkness, arms crossed, expression unreadable.

Lex stood before him, fists clenched.

"No. Absolutely not," I said.

She turned, lips parting like she might argue. But I was already moving.

"She’s not ready," I snapped. "Whatever this mission is, I’ll go. Or we go. Together."

Hades didn’t flinch. "You cannot. The Lethe requires a soul unmarked by Olympus. And you, boy, are marked in fire and fury."

Lex swallowed. Her voice was steady. "He’s right. It has to be me."

"The hell it does."

Brian, lounging on a bench, looked up from polishing his dagger. "You’re getting that vein in your temple again."

"Shut up."

Calypso shifted beside me. "Lethe’s dangerous, Lio. Even for her. But she can do this."

"No, she shouldn’t have to."

Lex walked up to me, chest to chest, chin tipped defiantly. "I can do this."

My hands trembled as I cupped her face. Gods, I didn’t even care who was watching. "You just came back to me. And now you want me to let you walk into a river that steals memory, that feeds on your soul?"

"I’m not asking permission."

"Then I’m not giving it."

"That’s not how this works."

Hades cleared his throat. "You two done playing tragedy yet?"

We both glared at him. He sighed like a weary teacher. "Lex, the Lethe has something buried in it. A shard of prophecy. A truth we’ve all forgotten. But you might retrieve it."

"What happens if she forgets who she is?" I asked, voice low.

"Then you’ll have to make her remember."

That nearly broke me.

Lex touched my wrist. "I’ll come back."

I looked into her eyes and saw everything I’d ever feared—courage, recklessness, love too big to hold.

"If you don’t," I said quietly, "I swear to every god still breathing, I’ll rip the Lethe apart with my bare hands until I find you."

Brian raised a finger. "Just putting this out there—maybe don’t make death rivers angry."

Calypso elbowed him.

Lex kissed me then. Not gently. Not like goodbye. Like a promise. Like possession.

And then she turned and walked away.

Into the dark.

Into the Lethe.

And I let her.

But my soul went with her.